Faces & Places in the Country

Tell us about your farm. I bought the farm in the mid-1960s. There are 10 acres, mostly pasture. The goal was to get out of town so I could have a few horses; the mules came later. I also boarded horses for people on the farm for a time. At the most, I had eight horses on the farm. Lorraine and I met in the 90s. We both worked in road construction and summer was a busy time for us. We both enjoyed riding horses in local saddle clubs: me in the Rumbling Riders and Lorraine in the Prairie Dusters and Birch Lake Riders in barrel racing, poles and rescue race.

Lorraine saw an ad in a magazine about the Alabama Wagon Train that was held in March. So she called them. It was $50 a person for a 10 day trip that included dances, rodeo and camping along the way. In 2000, we packed up and headed to Alabama for our first wagon train, and we fell in love with it. We trailered along two horses for the first four or five years before we got a team of mules. We didn’t go every year, but for the next 20 years we traveled to Alabama and Georgia on the wagon train and got to know many people. We also did the wagon train in southeastern Minnesota, which was a little shorter. We were able to go one weekend a summer until we retired from road construction; then we’d go for the week-long trip.

What are moments during the year that you really cherish being on the farm? The days on the farm have been enjoyable; we enjoy living in the country. Some winters we wintered very well, visiting my family in Oklahoma. Shortly after Christmas, we made the trip down and spent the winter, just our animals and us. We slept in our horse trailer right next to our family’s home, so we got to participate in the grandkids’ school activities and go riding together. 

Lorraine enjoys snowshoeing on the farm in the winter and gardening in the summer. She tends to a large garden with sunflowers for the birds, roses, mums, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, tomatoes and rhubarb, an herb garden, and an orchard of grape, walnut, pear and apple trees.

What are some accomplishments you are proud of? I was one of the founding members of the Rumbling Riders in Sauk Centre and enjoyed carrying the flag for many events. During our wagon train years, the Alabama Wagon Train was one of the nation’s largest trains. One year our train was close to a mile long. The wagon train in Georgia took us through the plantations; it was beautiful scenery. Travelers ranged from as young as babies up to 80 years old; it’s been a lot of fun. We’ve covered a lot of country. We took our horses to Idaho and our mules have been to Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia. We got rid of the mules in 2021. The Minnesota Wagon Train is every year in June. We didn’t get to go this year, but we are still involved. We fundraise for the Special Olympics, one year raising $30,000-40,000.

We also like to attend the draft horse association field days each year. I used to participate in the demonstration with the mules every year. Our mules were invited to the Minnesota State Fair. We did the parade of breeds for many years, walking the 2-mile loop through the fairgrounds; people enjoyed them for their 3-day stay. Lorraine loves the fair; I don’t so much, but we did it anyway.

Tell us about your daily routine on the farm. We retired from road construction in 2013. Now we watch Gunsmoke, relax together on the farm, and help the Amish when they need to travel. Lorraine met our Amish family friends one cold morning while she was shoveling a road. She was frozen, so she parked her tractor and walked up the driveway, knocked on the door and asked if she could come in to get warm. The nice woman treated her with fresh bread, hot coffee and cookies; they’ve been friends ever since.
What is the hardest and best part of your day? The best parts are the sunrise and the sunset. The hardest part was taking care of the livestock in the dead of winter when the water froze, and it was just Lorraine and me. Those days were hard, but we lived through it. The farm is quieter now, but we enjoy our time together and stay as busy as we like. Every year we host Lorraine’s side of the family on the farm. We camp out under the oak trees. Everyone brings their dogs and we have a cookout. We look forward to it every summer.

What motivates you on the farm? The animals motivated me. I enjoyed them. In 2019, I got kicked right in the face by one of the mules who had gotten untied in the back of the trailer on our way home from a wagon train trip. That was an awful experience, but I recovered, and I am still here.

What do you hope the next five to 10 years look like on your farm? Relaxing and spending time with family. We have five children, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. We just went down to Oklahoma to meet the two youngest; it was a great trip.

Over the years we have enjoyed taking the grandchildren with us on both the Minnesota Wagon Train and the Alabama Wagon Train. We enjoy going to the rodeo, the draft horse association events, and being a part of the wagon train family for all these years.

What words of wisdom do you have for future generations of farmers? “Live life to the fullest and give ‘er hell,” Rudy said. “Enjoy the outdoors and family,” Lorraine said.