The Farming Families of South Dakota - October 2020

October 2020 | www.AgeMedia.pub

Faith / Family / Friends / Farming

Country Church Special Issue

HARVEST OF FAITH AND HOPE

Trinity Lutheran Church in Lincoln County.

Photo by Bob Fitch.

of Lincoln County

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of Sioux County PUBLISHERS Garrett and Mindy Gross, AGE Media (605) 690-4071 EDITOR Bob Fitch, AGE Media (712) 551-4123

We have been in the auction business for over 60 years and sold thousands of acres of land, millions of dollars of equipment and much more. There is no job too big or too small, so give us a call and we would be happy to work with you.

ADVERTISING SALES Garrett Gross, AGE Media (515) 231-9367 garrett@agemedia.pub Š The Farming Families, Age Media & Promotion The Farming Families is distributed free exclusively to the farmers, ranchers and producers in rural southeastern South Dakota. All rights reserved. Content in this magazine should not be copied in any way without the written permission of the publisher. The Farming Families assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Content in articles, editorial and advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by The Farming Families and Age Media & Promotion.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

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October 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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HARVEST OF FAITH AND HOPE

GOD’S EVER-PRESENT ABUNDANCE

By Pastor Chris Schroder, Moe Parish

“And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land.

And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year..”

Abundance. We would all like to have an abundance especially in times of scarcity. Just think what we could do with abundant rain, or abundant sunshine. Or how about abundant equipment, or abundant hours in a day? These are things we could really use sometimes. But the Lord has another way of looking at abundance.

In the Bible, Joseph had an abundance, after he had saved food for seven years in times of prosperity (Genesis 41). When the drought came, he was ready. Later on, it was Elijah with an abundance again during a time of drought. God sent a drought to judge King Ahab, but to Elijah he sent ravens with meat, and a fresh brook to quench his thirst (1 Kings 17). In the above passage, Joshua is leading his people to the Promised Land, a land of long-awaited abundance.

Pastor Chris Schroder of Moe Parish inside Lands Lutheran Church.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

But what about you? What defines your present situation? Are you living in abundance or in scarcity?

Paul says, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty….I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13). Paul at times

Lands Lutheran Church west of Hudson.

was prosperous in mission work, and at other times he was on the run for his life. He saw firsthand how things could change, and yet one thing stayed the same. Christ is our constant supply, and He is capable of handling our earthly needs as well. Philippians 4:19 says, “My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.

We may wonder at God’s timing sometimes, but when life becomes turbulent, God is our time-tested deliverer.

Manna was nothing grand. It looked like coriander seed, or bread wafers. In fact, the word manna meant, “What is it?”

Yet manna sustained God’s people for 40 years. They learned to make many different things with it. They learned to rely on it as they saw it like dew every morning (except Sunday of course). Then God sent quail for meat, and provided them with water from the rock, whom Paul later says was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). It was all wonderfully orchestrated by God. What do you need a supply of in your wilderness? Maybe it’s rain for the crops, or a repair in the shop, or a conversation with a friend. You do not see much hope. But one thing is for certain. God is taking care of the growth. He desires to grow faith in you. Faith that will sustain you through thick and thin.

Hebrews says, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Surely God works in the invisible background, often escaping our gaze because we look on the surface.

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The manna didn’t stop because God had changed his mind, October 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

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up. Why? So that we can see His steady presence in the midst of any kind of change.

That is how a disciple learns to walk with Him. That is how we grow and began to expect His everlasting hand of provision.

Soon we are no longer surprised at God’s supply, just when we need it.

Milk and honey had finally come, and it has also come to us. Milk and honey represent the eternal blessing that we have in Christ.

In Christ, sin is washed away and evil is shut out. In Christ, we have an inner peace that begins right now as soon as we trust in Him and confess our sins to God. In His heavenly kingdom, we will experience true joy and everlasting peace.

God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” Romsdal Lutheran Church southwest of Canton. The third church of the (Jeremiah 31:3). parish – Trinity Lutheran Church – is pictured on the cover of this issue.

We will see the full measure of God’s love in his eternal Promised Land. or because God had changed Abundance awaits ahead! his disposition, but because God was fulfilling his promise to bring them into a new and beautiful ABOUT PASTOR CHRIS SCHRODER AND MOE PARISH land. Manna continues today, in a sense, by the “daily bread” that we Pastor Chris Schroder has been find in our lives. It encourages us serving the Moe Parish churches to trust in God every day, and not for about one year. He grew up in just when the storm comes. Faith McCanna, N.D., near Grand Forks. often needs to be exercised, like He is a native of Bolivia where a spiritual muscle. God uses life’s he was adopted when he was 3 experiences to build us up. years old by his parents who were missionaries there. His wife, Heidi, God’s people were opening a new is a nurse and works at Avera chapter of provision. Many times Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls. Her we have come to rely on the same father and grandfather were also thing, but then God shakes things 8

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

Lutheran ministers. Their children, Noah and Sara, attend Canton High School. Pastor Schroder previously served churches in Holstein, Iowa, and Duluth, Minn.

Moe Parish includes Romsdal Lutheran Church, Trinity Lutheran Church, and Lands Lutheran Church, all located west of Hudson and south of Canton in Lincoln County. All three were organized in the early 1870s by Norwegian immigrants. Services were held in the Norwegian language in their early years. All three began offering some services in English around 1900 before a complete move to English in 1935. The three congregations jointly formed Moe Parish in 1919 and began to share a pastor. Today, one service is held at Lands Lutheran Church every Sunday and a second service is rotated between Romsdal and Trinity.

All three congregations faced disasters in their early years. A prairie fire burned the first Lands Lutheran Church building to ashes in 1879. The original buildings constructed by Trinity and Romsdal were replaced after a 1902 tornado, which also toppled the steeple and blew out the windows at Lands. The replacement buildings following the tornado at Trinity and Romsdal are still in use today. Lands Church built a brick structure in 1952.

Moe Parish Park had its beginnings in 1946 on 10 acres on the Lands campus. Four people from each church serve on the park board and its uses include a major Fourth of July celebration every year.

The park was recently enhanced with a prayer garden where outdoor services are held in the summer. Moe Parish Park also serves the community in giving a serene atmosphere to hold family reunions, meetings and weddings.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

Oak Street Station’s Brent Van Regenmorter is part of the third generation of his family who farm near Inwood, just across the border from Canton, S.D. Their corn, soybean and hog operation relies on the same on-farm repair and replacement of tires and hydraulic hoses that local farmers need.

“We know you need your tires and hoses repaired or replaced as quickly as possible. Our mobile farm technicians are experts at on-the-farm tire service. We also install tracks on tractors and skid steers, plus specialize in repairing hydraulic hoses on your equipment,” Van Regenmorter said. “Our main goal is your satisfaction — we want to save you time, money, and hassle by providing fast and efficient farm equipment tire repairs.”

Oak Street Station regularly services customers in Lincoln and Turner County, South Dakota, in addition to a large part of northwest Iowa.

Oak Street Station has farm tire experts on staff. Farm tires are characterized by quality craftsmanship, unique tread designs, and excellent durability. Agricultural work demands sturdy tires that can grip soil and support the heavy weight of tractors and other farming vehicles. “Your farm tractor tires will be put through all types of terrain, and our stock of agricultural tires are all certified, high performing tires,” Van Regenmorter said.

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The store in Inwood stocks top agricultural tire brands for various agricultural applications. Oak Street Station is Firestone AG Certified. In addition to Firestone, they also carry Michelin, Titan, Goodyear, BKT, and Mitas ag tires. Their knowledgeable team stays abreast of the latest information on large volume tires, wide section tires, increased flexion tires and high flotation tires. Their tires feature reduced soil compaction, improved durability, and better traction.

After attending the auto mechanics program at Northwest Iowa Community College and working at a truck shop of a soybean processing plant, Van Regenmorter returned to the family farm. But when the local service station closed, the family purchased the facility. “It was just lube and tires at first.

We evolved from there.”

The smaller, old style service station was centrally located in Inwood. But lack of working space became an issue. “We were trying to run our business with two service bays and two fuel pumps. The size of today’s tractors and semi-trucks and trailers did not fit inside the building. We were doing a majority of work outside. Rain, snow or shine, we were fixing tires outside. We had completely overgrown our location,” Brent said.

They expanded on the south edge of town at the intersection of Highways 18 and Iowa IA182. As part of the move, they expanded from what might be called a small mom-and-pop operation to be a major regional retailer and vehicle service center and truck stop.

The service side of the business offers oil changes, alignments, brakes, air conditioner service, general auto maintenance and engine repair. But Brent said tires are still their “big thing.”

They have a large inventory of tires in the mezzanine, along with large, new and used ag tires stored at their farm. They offer tires for tractors, combines, semi-trucks, cars, and lawn mowers. Their on-the-farm tire service aids farmers in a large geographic area. About 70 percent of the business is directly or indirectly ag-related.

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Blender pumps provide higher blends of ethanol which is sourced from local ethanol plants and they also have biodiesel from Minnesota Soybean Processors in Brewster, Minn.

For more information about Oak Street Station, see www.oak-street-station.com or call 712-753-4801.

COMPLETEBENEFITSINC.COM October 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

11

HARVEST OF FAITH AND HOPE

GOD USES SUFFERING TO RE-ALIGN US; TO ENSURE FAITH IN HIM REMAINS CENTRAL

By Bob Fitch

Pastor Jared Rakness knows from members at West Nidaros Lutheran Church that the unknown and uncertainties surrounding farming right now are a source of consternation and even fear. West Nidaros is a country church located northeast of Crooks in rural Minnehaha County.

“Farmers came out of fantastic years in 2011-2015. Then the bottom absolutely dropped out.

The last two to three years have been exceptionally difficult,” said Rakness.

“But when we go through a time like this, God actually works through our suffering to re-align us – to ensure faith remains the center of who and what we are.

Theologically, when you look at it, the farm can come to possess you.

When that happens, only death occurs. You’ve got to keep things in focus. What’s truly important is not your vocation or that you’re a farmer, but what’s important is your family, your kids, your friendships. Those will all be there even if the farm isn’t.”

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

Pastor Jared Rakness of West Nidaros Lutheran Church.

West Nidaros Lutheran Church has spectacular stained glass windows.

Rakness continued, “I’ve reminded farmers what Jesus teaches us in the Lord’s prayer. Jesus says ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ He doesn’t promise tomorrow; He doesn’t worry about yesterday; He doesn’t worry about the next year or two, or 10 years. But, in faith, we rely on this day, trusting that God provides all of our daily needs – food, clothing and things we need to live in this world. So hang on to that promise.

“And then remember that things are just that – things.

Jesus warns us not store treasures on earth, but rather treasures in heaven. There are difficult times, yes, but there are these promises of daily bread and the promise that the things we accumulate or accomplish in this life are not our treasure. Our treasure is given us by Jesus who promises us forgiveness and eternal life in him. Boil life down to the very center – that’s what matters,” he said.

“When I do a graveside service, whether the person was financially wealthy or poor, I say the same words, the exact same thing: This person’s wealth or poverty didn’t give them a promise, but their Lord Jesus Christ did. It started in baptism and it was a promise that came to them through the word and the sacrament of holy communion. That’s what sustained them in this world. If the things we do and things we accomplish are our focus, then our focus is all wrong and these times will be even more difficult.”

Rakness recommended reading the Gospel of Mark because

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it reminds us that, even during times of great struggle and death, it’s amazing what God does – he brings new life out of it. “God never says he’ll remove all of our suffering. Paul, in Romans 7 and 8, tells us what suffering does.

It removes all of our false sense of hope. In removing it, it puts in front of us what is our true hope.

Our hope is not in an institution, in a business, in a government, not even in our family farm. Our only hope is in Jesus Christ.

“At the end of the day, our farm or our business doesn’t raise us from the dead or forgive our sins.

Only Jesus Christ does. If we stay focused on that in the midst of our trials and sufferings, we’ll get through them. We get through them, not by pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps, but because Jesus is faithful.”

Place your faith in Jesus, he said, but also know that you can, and should, ask for help when the struggles seem overwhelming.

“Check your ego because your ego is going to get you into trouble. If you can’t ask for help because your ego is in the way, that’s sinfulness.

When you need help, reach out to your friend, your church, your

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pastor, your neighbor. We’re here and want to help.

“Scripture is filled with warnings about pride – it is not a virtue to be held up. We encourage people who need help to reach out. You’ve got to know that your life is so much more than even your land. It’s ok to let some things go. It’s ok to start over if that’s what’s necessary.”

Rakness said, “Our God is a jealous God; and he is jealous for you. He says, ‘I’m jealous enough that I’m going to remove all these idols in your way because there’s no hope in them. Your only hope is in me.’

God does not like it when other things take our devotion and faith.

He doesn’t like it because the end of those things is not good. The end of those things is deeper suffering and deeper death. The end God wants for us is salvation and eternal life.”

As a country church with humble beginnings, Rakness believes that West Nidaros has remained strong because it has “phenomenal leaders who have kept it focused on its mission. When you focus on your mission, the rest takes care of itself. This congregation has been able to leverage some very generous gifts that we’ve been

entrusted with to invest in youth and family ministry, to invest in mission and outreach. This church’s leaders have stayed focused on those things and recognized that the church is all who have gathered, not just those who have been here forever.”

He said country churches which have folded in the past 50-70 years should not be regretful.

“Like the churches my parents and grandparents grew up in, for some country churches, they’ve closed because they completed their mission. The farm families they were built to serve were gone.

There is no longer a farm family in every section. Some of it is natural like school consolidations.

It isn’t that those churches have been unfaithful, it’s just that their missions have been completed. The people they were ministering to were no longer there.

“We’re fortunate in this area of Minnehaha County that we have people moving into these communities again. But that also can cause consternation and strife.

If you want to grow, you have to be ready to grow, which means you have to be ready for new voices.”

S.D., and graduated with a degree in business management from the University of South Dakota. After working in information technology for a few years, he attended Luther Seminary where he met his wife, Jessi. She is the director of faith formation at West Nidaros (and she actually was working there for several years before Jared was called). They have four children. Rakness has also served congregations in Elk Point and Sioux Falls.

The Nidaros Congregation is the oldest church in Minnehaha County. It originally held worship services in log school houses and in the homes of members. The church’s first building was built in 1878 on the east side of the Sioux River. Because of growth and the difficulty of travel, Nidaros became a two-point parish in 1912, when the West Nidaros building was established at its current location northeast of Crooks. The congregation later became a four-point parish with the addition of churches in Baltic and Renner, with one pastor serving the four churches. In the 1950s, the churches became separate parishes.

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ST. BONIFACE IDYLWILDE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN TURNER COUNTY. PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN BEGEMAN. “Prairie Sanctuaries” calendar for 2021 is available for purchase at www.viewfromsd.com.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

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19

HARVEST OF FAITH AND HOPE

THE WILDERNESS IS NOT ALWAYS THE WORST PLACE TO BE

by Bob Fitch

Gene Miller doesn’t pretend to be an expert on the economics of farming. But he knows commodity prices have been in the tank and that farmers, young and old alike, are facing serious challenges.

Miller is the interim pastor at Hutterthal Mennonite Church north of Freeman. A retired school teacher and superintendent, he grew up on a farm near Lancaster, Penn.; attended Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia; then worked at Mennonite Christian schools in Sarasota, Fla., and Kidron, Ohio, before moving to Henderson, Neb., where his son is a Mennonite minister. In his interim role, he’s typically in the Freeman area two days a week.

“Farmers are very independent. Their faith is deep and they’re loyal,” Miller said.

But his perception is that farmers should demonstrate more vulnerability and a willingness to take action in concert with one another to improve their financial position.

“It’s one thing to say I lost so much money on corn this year. Well, everybody did. But what can we do to come together so we don’t lose money on corn? Is there a way to beat this?”

Miller finds hope in scripture. He equates today’s struggles and uncertainty with the great Exodus story where the Israelites wandered in the wilderness. “The wilderness is not always the worst place to be for preparing for the future. The Lord took the Israelites out of captivity and led them right into the wilderness and left them there. The wilderness is where we’re created and recreated into something new.”

During the Exodus, two million people left 20

Gene Miller is the interim pastor at Hutterthal Mennonite Church.

Egypt and God didn’t send them to Canaan, the promised land. “He sends them down the coast into never-never land, where there’s no water and no food; where all that they have is God. Then he sends them to the Red Sea. The sea opens and they go across and pharaoh is destroyed. The enemy who was chasing them is now crushed, but the other thing is they cannot go back. They were slaves and now they’re free – but they’ve got nothing – nothing but God. They’re in the wilderness by themselves and they’ve got to figure it out,” Miller said.

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

“It’s in the wilderness where God begins speaking and they get the Ten Commandments. If they had gotten the Ten Commandments in Goshen, in Egypt, they wouldn’t have listened. It’s in the wilderness where God recreates them and they become a nation. It’s at that point when miraculous things begin to happen. It’s at that point that manna comes and water comes out of the rock, and quail comes from the sky. All kinds of things happen in the middle of nothing.

That’s the hope. The hope is God in the wilderness.”

Age Media Qtr Page Color 7-12-19.pdf 1 7/12/2019 11:22:43 AM

Hutterthal Mennonite Church is located north of Freeman. Photo by Christian Begeman. “Prairie Sanctuaries” calendar for 2021 is available for purchase at www.viewfromsd.com.

Today, facing uncertainty, struggles with low prices, and other trials, Miller suggested farmers need to learn from this lesson in the Bible and say: “I’ve got to find God in this.

That’s our hope.”

Miller said perhaps the first step is to figure out what the right question is. “If you could ask God any question, what would it be? We know how to pray … we know how to pray for sickness, we know how to pray for more money, we know how to pray for our children. But, in terms of our vision for the future, what is the question we want God to answer?”

In trying figure out what question to ask God, he said it would be wise to start with being grateful. He was reminded of the old spiritual entitled “Count Your Blessings” which his father used to sing on their Pennsylvania farm. “Even if he was in one field and I was in another, I could hear him singing it over the noise of the Oliver tractor. And there’s always something to be grateful for. It’s the gratefulness that creates creativity. It’s the complainer, the negative person who loses hope. Blessings come to grateful hearts.

“Understand what wealth is. We often define wealth as money, but money is just a fragment of our wealth. One time, I was speaking with an Amishman who had eight children and he was telling me how he didn’t have any money. So I asked him if he would sell one of his little girls October 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

21

The cornerstone of Hutterthal Mennonite Church says it all.

to me for a billion dollars. He, of course, said no. So I asked if he would sell her for a trillion dollars.

Again he said no. So I told him I was counting eight trillion dollars in wealth right there. The rest is just chicken feed,” he said.

“We forget that health is wealth, our friendships are wealth, our church is wealth, our time is wealth.

We can’t put a price on these things. We put people on pedestals if their checkbook is large. But how many billionaires would give an awful lot of money to have a family who loves them?”

What’s Miller’s advice for country churches (or any church, for that matter) to survive and thrive?

“What is the glue that holds a church together? I’ve told this church, as I’ve told others, the glue is always the children. If

you make the children successful, the parents will love you for it and the grandparents will love you for it. Make the primary purpose of your church to train the next generation who God is and teach them the principles that God has set before us.” He cited Deuteronomy 6:4-8 which says: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

(and Ukraine) homesteaded in America in that era. This included Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Evangelical, Baptist, Mennonite and Hutterites, who settled in Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota Territory and Manitoba, Canada. Out of the 240,000 immigrants, about 18,000 were Mennonites and 1,250 were Hutterites.

“That is the secret. That’s the glue.

People aren’t going to be pulled apart when the glue thickens.”

Those choosing private ownership formed Hutterthal, Neu Hutterthal and Hutterdorf church communities. (Hutterdorf closed in 1960.) The churches were named after their villages back in Russia. Today they consider themselves Mennonites, rather than Hutterites because of the private ownership of property, rather than common ownership.

Hutterthal Mennonite Church was established in 1879, one of hundreds of church communities established by the Germans from Russia in the 1870s. About a quarter of a million German speaking immigrants from Russia

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All 1,250 Hutterites settled in Dakota Territory. About 450 of the Hutterites formed Hutterite Colonies in Dakota Territory. About 800 chose private ownership and homesteaded between Bridgewater and Freeman. The major difference was the communal ownership of property. Each Hutterite Colony has their own treasury, all property is held in common ownership, with no private ownership. Everyone works for the common good of the commune.

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23

KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE

HISTORIC QUARTZITE OUTCROPPINGS AND BUILDINGS Photos by Christian Begeman

With the extremely dry conditions in the area this year, perhaps your harvest and other fall work is wrapping up early. Maybe this is the year you can find a little time for a tour of the fall scenery. A day trip you might consider is a loop through Minnehaha County, S.D., and Pipestone County, Minn., to experience the historic trail of Sioux quartzite.

Dells of the Sioux River

A panoramic photo of Palisades State Park 24

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

Sioux quartzite was formed from sand, silt, and shells deposited by shifting seas that advanced and retreated over this land more than a billion and half years ago. Though commonly pink or red, the color varies over a wide range due to the presence of a thin film of iron oxide coating the grains of quartz. Next to diamond, it is the hardest known rock. Because of its durability, the crushed rock is shipped nationwide to be used in road building, as an additive for asphalt and concrete, and railroad track beds. In the late 1890′s and early 1900′s, the rock was used extensively to build ornate buildings.

Within the quartzite deposits are smaller layers of a dark red stone knows as pipestone or Catlinite.

For centuries, Native Americans from many different tribes quarried the soft red stone at what it now Pipestone National Monument. They fashioned beautiful pipes and other ceremonial objects.

1. CENTRAL SIOUX FALLS: Falls Park including the Queen Bee Mill and Sioux Falls Light & Hydro Plant; Old Courthouse Museum; and Washington Pavilion.

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EASTERN SIOUX FALLS: Arrowhead Park – Large, arrowhead shaped granite quarry is one of three historic quarries that are now lakes in the park. The area is a haven for bird watching. Be sure to see the restored 1888 barn.

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GARRETSON, S.D.: Palisades State Park – Sioux quartzite formations line Split Rock Creek and rise above the water into 50 foot cliffs in some places. Devil’s Gulch – Local legend says Jesse James’ horse jumped this chasm and escaped from the posse here.

4. JASPER, MINN.: The former Jasper High School; Bauman Hall; and John Rowe House.

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PIPESTONE, MINN.: Pipestone National Monument offers an opportunity to explore American Indian culture and the natural resources of the tallgrass prairie. Also see the Pipestone County Museum building; 1884 Syndicate Block Shops; Calumet Inn; and Carnegie Library.

6.

DELL RAPIDS, S.D.: Quartzite formations reach as high as 40 feet above the Big Sioux River. Dell Rapids’ historic downtown includes the 1888 Grand Opera House and Rose Stone Inn. Also see the Dell Rapids quartzite water tower and The Odd Fellows Home.

Here’s a possible itinerary for a good loop tour which showcases Sioux Quartzite natural outcroppings and historic buildings made of the stone:

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If this day-long loop tour is not enough for you, additional historic quartzite-related stops include:

Split Rock Creek Jesse James jump

•

GRANITE, IOWA: Gitchie Manitou is a 91-acre natural prairie preserve noted for its ancient Native American burial mounds and pre-cambrian Sioux quartzite outcroppings.

•

LUVERNE, MINN.: Blue Mounds State Park includes a Sioux quartzite cliff which rises 100 feet from the plains. A bison herd grazes on the prairie.

Also see the Lyon County Courthouse in Luverne.

•

SIOUX FALLS: Pettigrew Home and Museum; former campus of South Dakota School for the Deaf; Carnegie Library; and South Dakota State Penitentiary.

• SALEM, S.D.: St. Mary's Catholic Church.

• SIOUX CITY, IOWA: John Peirce House.

Old Courthouse Museum, Sioux Falls, SD

Sources www.visitgarretson.com/city/history/ www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sioux_Quartzite www.siouxquartzite.com/what-is-sioux-quartzite/ www.southeastsouthdakota.com/road-trips1/scenic-quartzite-trail/ www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gitchie_Manitou_State_Preserve www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park.html?id=spk00121#information www.nationalparks.org/explore-parks/pipestone-national-monument Minnesota Historical Society

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

LESSONS LEARNED FROM A CZECH POST OFFICE

By Lori Hofer, CPA, MPA Assistant Professor of Business Mount Marty University

The aspiration of two months and five countries abroad, eight lectures and countless research opportunities fueled me to take my husband and four young children to a different continent for a life-changing experience. After spending over a decade teaching international business through the lens of textbooks, case studies and guest speakers, it was my turn to become the student and discover experiential learning on a whole new level. Europe was my classroom and COVID was a grueling comprehensive exam that was not on the syllabus.

My eyes were opened to ideas and perspectives that I had never been exposed to first-hand.

Although a global pandemic cut our trip short, I was able to experience a different way of living long enough to give my work and long-held beliefs some new perspective.

Since 2007, I have worked as a business professor at Mount Marty University (formerly Mount Marty College). The idea of sabbatical had been on my radar for the several years as I had sensed myself getting into a rut professionally and personally. I had spent nearly my entire career working at the same institution. Given that my husband farms, I have also enjoyed the stability of living within a two square-mile radius since I was 20. However, these blessings come with their share of challenges. I had increasingly longed for my children to enjoy the diversity and breadth of experiences that are not always possible living in a rural area. As for my own stagnation, I still loved my discipline and my job but the past few years I found it difficult to maintain that same level of passion and drive that I once had. My views seemed to have narrowed and I was losing touch with the ever-changing business environment.

I needed more context to engage my students in a way that a Gen Zer (teenager – age 23) requires.

From the moment I learned that Mount Marty University (MMU) had granted me a one-semester sabbatical, I was brimming with anticipation. My sabbatical would consist of lecturing and doing 28

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

Lori Hofer is a professor at Mount Marty University in Yankton and lives on a farm north of Freeman.

research at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic. The prospect of working alongside fellow business professors whose backgrounds and experiences were so different from my own plus lecturing to students from across Europe, was a professional dream come true.

What I anticipated most, though, was getting to take part in “experiential learning.” The best learning often takes place outside the classroom and I was ready to soak it all in. As we made our travel plans, I thought daily about the various people, cultures, languages, foods and sights we would experience. I was ready to take scrupulous mental notes of every encounter and transaction to share with my students, colleagues, friends and family back home.

On February 2, 2020, my husband, children ages 11, 9, 6, and 3 and I left South Dakota for what we thought would be a nineweek trip. We landed in Paris and spent our first two weeks in Europe traveling through France and Italy before arriving in the Czech Republic in mid February. Each day was fascinating.

It quickly became clear that I did not need to wait until I was

on the University of South Bohemia campus to begin my sabbatical work. Every restaurant, train station, shop, and museum offered a new perspective.

The sights were everything we had hoped for. What I had not expected, though, was how enamored I was with experiencing a different economic system. Thankfully over the years my husband, Kerry, had grown fully accustomed to my ongoing supply and demand dialogue. This is your lot in life if your spouse teaches business. As we navigated each European experience together, I was grateful that my one adult travel companion was willing to engage my constant need to dissect aspects of European economics. Our most compelling evidence that we were no longer on US soil was the dreaded pošta (Czech post office). The debacles that we lived through at the Czech post office remain a main point of conversation in our household to this day. It affected me so much that I wanted to reach over the counter and hug our local postal staff when we returned to the US. Thanks to COVID, the plexiglass barrier prevented me from invading their personal space when I finally emerged from quarantine in late April.

The pošta was conveniently located only two bus stops from the university campus where we were living. My husband, who knew how eager I was to send home dozens of postcards, accompanied me on the short journey. Between the language barrier, our newness to the České Budějovice bus system and the vagueness of Google maps, we considered it a small triumph to have found the pošta in less than an hour. Once inside, we immediately got in the line of the youngest-looking employee. Several awkward interactions with middle-aged workers plus a quick brush-up on Cold War history had taught us that anyone over the age of 25 was not likely to speak English. The next battle was in the details. We spoke no Czech. The pošta worker spoke minimal English. I specifically wanted international airmail stamps. After several minutes of using Google Translate the pošta worker and I shared a brief moment of mutual victory. Now that she knew exactly which stamps I wanted, she asked me “How many?” I wanted to buy enough stamps to send all my cards. And of course I wanted a few extras. I did not want to relive the pošta experience any time soon. So I asked for 20. This seemed completely reasonable to me. Her answer was “Ne” which means “no.”

This was really the only Czech word I could consistently understand. “Ne?” I asked in reply. She went on to tell me that was too many stamps to buy at once. I paid for the 15 stamps I was allowed to purchase and left the pošta speechless.

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A week later when I needed more stamps, I thought it best to try a different pošta. Perhaps the one near campus only kept a minimal number of stamps on hand? For round two I went to a much larger pošta located near the shopping mall. Once inside, I began the daunting task of trying to decipher which window to approach. I made my decision, waited in line and showed the clerk what I wanted using my Google Translate screen. The Czech language is an incredibly difficult and coarse-sounding language. I found that European women in October 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

29

Lori Hofer in the Czech Republic with children Reeslyn, Kendric, Jamison and Cadence.

general spoke more assertively than midwestern American women. So, when the woman was just trying to help me understand that I needed to go to a different area of the post office, it felt like she was yelling obscenities at me. She seemed angry. I realize now that she was not. In the moment, though, my

family and I were terrified. Clutching my postcards, I quickly exited her area and found a different room where they sold the international stamps. Relieved, I asked the clerk for 15. I had lost some of my boldness after being yelled at and did not think I could handle another “ne.” With a very skeptical look the clerk picked up my postcards and started counting them to legitimize my need for such a big order. After her brief audit of my cards she agreed to sell me my requested 15 but it felt like a stretch of the rules.

The third visit to the dreaded pošta was equally stressful.

The pošta experience led me to understand just how different the economic principles of the Czech Republic are from those in the US. Despite the fact that I had enough Czech Korunas in hand to pay for hundreds of stamps, these workers clearly did not want to sell me more than a few. This was perplexing but

not unique to our time in České Budějovice. Similar experiences occurred at the grocery store. I could not get the butcher to give us more than a half pound of bacon per trip. The four hungry-looking children standing behind me at the meat counter did not change his willingness to only add one thin strip at a time to my order as I energetically gestured for more.

Even the English-speaking fellow shopper who graciously started translating for us on one visit could not get more than threequarter pounds out of him. As common as these experiences were during our stay, they never stopped baffling me.

I have been so entrenched in a capitalist economy, that I could not wrap my mind around anything else. I teach basic principles of socialism and communism. Yet, when stepping into a different economic system, I felt like I was

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

REPLACE THOSE OLD,DRAFTY

on a new planet. Anything I knew in theory about how these different economies worked was lost. Selling goods to those willing and able to pay, just makes sense to me. I recently asked my local postmaster in my hometown how many stamps I could buy? Her answer, not surprisingly, was “an unlimited amount.” I’ve ordered 300 pounds of pork from our local butcher and he was delighted by my request. I, like many Americans, am deeply capitalistic. It is more ingrained into who I am than I ever gave credit. While traveling across Europe I would constantly think “They need to do a cost/ benefit analysis” and “There’s no way that business can generate a profit” or my favorite “That is so inefficient.”

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Efficiency is the backbone of American economics. For example, we grow only two crops on our entire farm. When we go shopping, we load up our carts with jumbo quantities.

Superstores can be found in nearly every city across the country. We multitask to an insane degree. We use apps to schedule hair appointments, order pizza, organize our photos, make dinner reservations and synchronize our calendars. However, our drive to produce as much as we can for as little as possible has taken a toll on us and newer generations are not buying into this system as wholeheartedly. They are leerier of a world where everything is about competition and productivity. Students in my classroom increasingly care about issues like social equality, responsible business practices and work/life balance.

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engaged at their jobs which means that American businesses need to make some adjustments (Gallup, Inc., 2016, How Millennials Want to Work and Live). This mindset is not likely to change with the upcoming workforce. I can see the disengaged look in my students’ eyes when a lecture focuses for too long on the details Lori Hofer’s husband, Kerry, with children Kendric, Cadence, Reeslyn and Jamison. without drawing Research continually shows us their attention back to the bigger that the younger generations in issue at hand. I can sense how the workforce do not just work uninspired my fresh graduates are for a paycheck. They want a to sit at a desk reviewing financial purpose. They need their work to documents and tracking time in have meaning. A comprehensive 6-minute increments. They are not study by Gallup found that only afraid to work but they do need to 29% of millennials (ages 22-38) are understand what they are working for. For my husband who spends long hours tending to the farm, it is relatively easy to find purpose in his work. Harvesting his own crop to feed to his cattle while Over 750 area business our toddler looks on members of the Home curiously in the buddy Builders Assocation of the seat next to him is Sioux Empire work to serve quite gratifying. But the needs of the area’s for me, it took me six growing housing industry. weeks on a 10,000If you’re ready to build a mile trip to more fully new home or remodel the comprehend what my one you’re currently in, stop students and my gut by our website to find a had been hinting at list of members to work for years. It is with while planning and creating your next dream imperative that we home project. understand the purpose of our work.

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | October 2020

During the pinnacle of my career and the greatest adventure our family had ever been on, there was an epic plot twist. With three weeks left in our

trip, the Coronavirus swept through the world and changed all our lives overnight. One day we were living the good life in Europe and the next day we woke up to the headline “Czech Republic Closes Borders.” My remaining lectures were canceled.

My research never took place. Our plans of leisurely making our way back westward through Germany were shattered. In a matter of hours, we packed up two-months’ worth of belongings and hopped on a train to take us 90 miles to Prague where we boarded a plane to France before the Czech borders closed at midnight. We wanted new perspective and that dream was fulfilled. Three days and many hours of travel later, we were home.

So what did I really learn in my quest for a fresh perspective? Was it worth hauling my family around another continent for six weeks and fleeing a foreign country amidst a global pandemic? Absolutely. Before the quarantine dust had even settled, I told any who asked that I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

As for my expanded views on economics, the ideology behind Europe’s socialist ways helps me see my ever-changing college students’ perspectives in new light. It is doubtful that I will fully reconcile my free-market economist upbringing with more progressive notions any time soon. Efficiency will always be a part of my DNA. I will continue to unabashedly buy postage stamps in rolls of 100. I will still store an entire side of beef in my deepfreeze.

I will not stop asking my husband to do a cost/benefit analysis every time he wants to buy a new tractor.

However, I do have a greater appreciation for a different way of life which will allow me to be a better professor, mother and member of society. Having deep-held beliefs challenged is good for all of us. It makes us appreciate where we have been and more intentional about where we are going.

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FROM THE KITCHEN

ABELSKIVER – DANISH PANCAKES From the kitchen of Deb Van Hove. Reprinted from the cookbook of Grace Lutheran Church of Parker.

INGREDIENTS: • 1/2 cup half & half • 1 1/2 cups milk • 3 eggs • 1/4 cup sugar • 3 cups flour • 3 teaspoons baking powder • Dash of salt DIRECTIONS:

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1. Separate three eggs; beat whites until stiff and set aside. Beat yolks until lemon colored. Add sugar.

2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add alternately to eggs yolks with 2 cups liquid (1/2 cup half & half and 1 1/2 cups milk).

4. Fry in hot greased abelskiver pan.

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