Generosity in God's country

SUNBURG — Joseph and Renee Paulson started the God’s Country Tractor Ride as a small-town, small-scale event, something people could do for fun and charity when the rest of the world was closed. Since then, though, it has grown into an annual occasion that showcases what a community can do when it gathers.

“If you’d told me back then that we’d be here today, I’d have never believed it,” Joseph said. “It’s so beautiful to see everybody coming year after year; there have been a handful of folks who haven’t missed, and that’s pretty special.”

The Paulson farm recently celebrated its sesquicentennial, having been founded in 1874. Some of the ancestors of the Paulson family — the Lundborgs — were on the land even earlier. A historical marker between the houses of Joseph and his father, Dean Paulson, shows the location of the Lundborg Cabin and the New Sweden Church, which dates to the 1860s.

Through the years, the Paulson family has raised cattle, oats, wheat, flax, corn and soybeans, but during the Great Depression, the farm sustained itself by raising turkeys. With Joseph and Renee’s children — Nolan, Naelah and Nora — being the sixth generation on the farm, the family has long held ties to the land and, consequently, its community.

Attending Pioneer Days in Albany was a longstanding tradition of Renee’s side of the family. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pioneer Days was called off in 2020. Joseph had just started working for Tyler Carlson, Renee’s cousin, at SGS, and the two of them agreed they had to do something tractor-related that year.

“(Carlson) said, ‘Why don’t you go a little further and make it a benefit ride?’” Joseph said. “Renee and I talked it over … and decided we were going to have a tractor ride and benefit somebody in the community.”

The 2020 God’s Country Tractor Ride was held the second Saturday after Labor Day. The weather was good, and by Joseph’s estimate, the lineup was primarily composed of about 20 tractors, most of which were driven by people who lived within 20 miles of the farm. Food for the event was donated by the County Line Antique Tractor Club, of which Joseph is a member.

The first recipient of the tractor ride’s proceeds was another cousin of Renee’s, Chad Jones, who was battling throat cancer at the time. To Joseph, the amount of money the tractor ride was able to raise for him that year — as well as for other recipients in future years — was beyond belief.

“It’s hard to fathom what the community can come together and raise for a family,” Joseph said. “We’re small-town America, and that truly is what it’s all about.”

The Paulsons were not planning on continuing the tractor ride beyond the first year, but because of its popularity, they continued holding it annually. People also asked that the drive be moved into the summer, further distanced from harvest time, so more people could join. Now, the drive is regularly scheduled for the Saturday after the Fourth of July weekend.

This year, the God’s Country Tractor Ride will be at 8 a.m., July 11, rain or shine. The preparation for the ride, though, begins months in advance; the drive’s committee meets in February to determine the drive recipient, who is announced on Facebook April 1. By June, event planning is basically a full-time job.

The recipients for this year’s drive are Steve and Mary Henkel of Sunburg. Around January 2025, Steve was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer that had already spread to his bones; his body’s recent aggressive response to chemotherapy forced doctors to slow treatment, and while scans in July 2025 showed no remaining cancer, he still had to deal with severe pain, spinal fusion surgery and health complications in the aftermath.

“It settled a little this last winter,” Joseph said. “They’ve been through a lot.”

While the Paulsons usually begin advertising more heavily around Memorial Day, they get people reaching out to them in April to find out when the ride is, how much they can give and if they can volunteer.

“It’s a little challenging because we don’t get both feet into it until the middle of June,” Renee said. “I would say we’ll pull a larger crowd this year, just based off of people asking where to send donations.”

There are normally about 50 volunteers who help with the tractor drive, including members of the Swift Falls Winners 4-H Club.

While the event is called a tractor drive, vehicles of all kinds are welcome, including aircraft, as was the case in 2025.

“We’ve had side-by-sides, golf carts, old pickups … (and) old cars,” Joseph said. “We don’t want to turn anybody away. I think we can honestly say we’re the only tractor ride that has had a plane.”

Because the Paulsons do not know exactly how many people will be coming to a given tractor drive, they tentatively plan based on the previous year’s numbers. In 2025, that was about 350 people, with about 137 units in the ride. The day’s weather forecast is also a concern because rain tends to keep people away.

The drive starts with the vehicles parked in the Paulsons’ old pasture. There are a couple of routes that alternate from year to year, one to the north of the farm and the other to the east.

“I chose those two routes because they’re very different but very scenic,” Joseph said. “I get a lot of comments on seeing a lot of wildlife, a lot of lakes and beautiful trees and scenery.”

There will be a couple of stops along the way, with the drive returning to the farm between 11:30 a.m. and noon. Then, a meal will be served, spearheaded by Joseph’s aunt and uncle, Brian and Pam Gordon, and his mother, Martha Paulson. There will also be bounce houses, a face painter for children, live music and some planned surprises as well.

“We’re always trying to find new ways and new things,” Joseph said.

Cleanup is the event’s biggest hurdle, but thanks to the number of volunteers and the people who stick around to help pick up, by about 3 p.m., the Paulsons find it hard to tell there was an event on site at all.

“We had a guy last year just back up his truck and throw in all the garbage,” Renee said. “It’s the little things that make a big deal.”

Sometimes, the Paulsons feel like they take too much of the credit for the tractor ride, when none of it would be possible without the faithful support of volunteers and donors.

“We almost have to turn people down because they keep calling and saying, ‘What can we do? What can we donate? Is there anything you need?’” Joseph said. “It’s a good overwhelming feeling. … It is a lot of work, but when you get to that day and see the people and donations and everything else, all the work goes away.”