Cover story

BY ANNIE LUST

On my first visit to pitch the idea for the magazine interview, I drove just beyond the pasture, where 30-some cows relaxed on a green hillside. I slowed to gaze at the calves, some only days old, curled beside their mothers. The C&B Country Meats sign signaled me to turn onto the driveway, where the gravel crunched beneath my tires as I continued past the house to the building a little further from the road. A droopy-eared, tail-wagging hound with the name "Hank" embroidered on his collar greeted me as I strolled to the building. A sign hangs with weekday and Saturday hours. Sundays are, of course, closed The building houses a general store that the Cramers operate. They sell beef, but you can also find fresh eggs, Amish noodles, jam and a variety of other items. I grabbed steaks for dinner and headed to the counter where I noticed the “No debit or credit cards. Sorry!” sign. I waffled a bit, knowing I only had a few random dollars floating at the bottom of my purse. “Oh, don’t worry about it,” Doug immediately said. “Take those and just bring back the money another time.” I drove away a little shocked, steaks in tow, whistling the tune to The Andy Griffith Show.

Doug lives in the house beside C&B Country Meats, and Ken lives a couple of miles down the road. In fact, they have always lived within this two-mile stretch of country road. The house Ken lives in today with his wife, Roxann, is the same house where the Cramers grew up. Their parents married in 1948, moved into the house and started a dairy a few years later. That environment is what formed Ken, Doug and their six siblings. “It was hard work,” they both said. But as they shared the memory, they smiled. Their childhood included milking cows (which had to be done twice daily) and caring for hogs, chickens and dogs. The Cramer way of life was — and still is — one where everyone works together. Their parents both worked on the farm. “I think Mom ran the tractor as much as dad did,” Ken recalled. The life appealed to Ken and Doug. “I always knew I wanted to be a farmer,” Doug said before recounting his impatience to finish high school. Post-graduation, Doug worked and lived on the farm, just like Ken had been doing since his own graduation. They each married — Ken to Roxann in 1980, followed by Doug’s marriage to Cyndie in 1981 — and started their families. They lived in houses on the family farmland, raising their children much like they had been raised. In the mid-'80s, Doug purchased the farm where their beef operation is today. In 2001, Ken and Doug transitioned from dairy farming to beef farming, opening C&B Country Meats. Their days are filled with caring for their livestock, planting and harvesting their fields, running the meat processing facility, running the store and everything else that comes with farm life. They’re busy, but they never seem to be in a rush.

Their parents instilled more than just a love of farming, of course. On Sundays, they went to Mass, did only the essential chores and rested. The Cramers have been members of Holy Trinity Parish in Bucyrus for their entire lives. Every Sunday, they swap their overalls, boots and baseball caps for their Sunday best. Supporting their parish is as much part of their DNA as farming. It’s generally behind-the-scenes support. During the annual bratwurst festival that closes the main street in Bucyrus, you can follow the smoky, savory aroma to the Knights of Columbus booth where the brats are furnished by C&B Country Meats. The Cramers give regularly to parish festivals, fish fries and Right to Life. They sell gift cards to the parish at a discount, so the parish recoups a percentage of money spent at their store. They even agreed to this magazine interview — although the limelight is clearly not their preference — because it’s for the Church. Their Catholic faith, they tell me, followed by family and farming, are the most important things in life.

Ken and Doug have both passed retirement age. “I retired from the post office last year,” Doug said. In response, I asked, “But from the farm?” They both laughed. I can’t help but notice that hanging just above their heads is a wooden sign that reads Life is Better on the Farm.