3 minute read
Wireless World
to the floor and shattered. “Yeah, that was crazy. It was not fun. It looked like a scary movie happened. All the drawers and doors were open in the kitchen,” Sommer said. Jolene said, “The house could have fallen down on Sommer or the sheds could have fallen down on the animals. We all were in a different spot when the storm hit. But we all got back here safe.”
The morning after the storm, their neighbors, Tim and Fay Ramstad, pulled into the yard and said an excavator and loader were coming in a hour – and they asked “Where do you want us?” Wade replied, “I can't afford to pay for an excavator and loader, guys.” But Tim said, “I remember 29 years ago you came and helped me, so this is payback time.” Wade said, “That’s awesome to have neighbors who would do that.”
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Their son Layne “had seven of his friends from Lennox who came and helped and never asked for a single dime. They just love to help and they’re great boys,” Jolene said. Many other friends came to help and then her boss and others brought food and drinks to feed the volunteers. Wade said, “I bet you there were 75 to 100 people here working that day. Let me tell you, that many hands can pick up a lot of branches. It was the whole community coming together just to help clean up. After Ramstad’s got done digging holes and moving trees to where I could handle it, they went to the next neighbor and the next neighbor. I mean they just kept going – and they just forgot about their own job for a week or so.” Jolene added, “We couldn’t ask for any better help than we had after that storm.”
FARM FAMILIES
Wade has been part of this neighborhood his entire life. He is one of 17 children of the late Joe and Alice Burggraff. His brother operates the nearby family farm today. With 17 children, Wade said, “Come Christmas, we didn't get much because there was just too many kids. But actually we got a lot – because there was a lot of love there.”
Wade’s daughter, Sommer, is a graduate of Tri Valley High School. She went to college at the University Center in Sioux Falls for graphic and web design. She’s works in management at HomeGoods in Sioux Falls. “I'm more of the artsy kid in the family to where I do photography and painting. I designed the brand for their acreage.” Jolene grew up on the Lennox farm of her parents, Verlyn and Joann Muller. “We raised cattle, sheep and hogs. My brothers and my sister and I were all involved in 4-H and three of us were involved in FFA.” She took part in high school rodeo as a youth and spent a lot of time going to horse sales with her dad. “I was going to the State Fair before I was even old enough to participate in 4-H. My parents would put me on a trolley with a little pillow and a blanket. They’d come back and get me when the show was done. That’s when it was safe to do things like that.”
Sommer Burggraff designed the family brand.
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