Back when I was in elementary school a typical start of the new school year assignment was to write an essay and give a report on what I did during the summer. I don’t know if this is a universal elementary school assignment or just something my teachers liked to use to ease into the new school year. Anyway, this Footnote contains information I learned during the month of July when I was taking a break from writing the Friday Footnotes. Some of the information might be of interest to agriculture teachers.
German Prisoners of War – One of the last Footnotes before my hiatus was “4-H Camps and German Prisoners of War.” David Laatsch, retired agriculture teacher in Wisconsin, responded to that Footnote by writing:
In the summer of 1975, I participated in a European Agricultural Study Program (best thing that I ever did—I sold my car to pay for it—best investment that I ever made!) We toured farms and Ag Businesses in Communist East and West Europe. While traveling through East Germany by train, the conductor spoke excellent English! We asked him how it was that he spoke English so well. His response was: “I was a POW at the Fairgrounds in Plymouth, Wisconsin (40 miles from Beaver Dam).” After the War, the POWs had to go back to Germany for Repatriation but returned to Wisconsin to marry the farmer’s daughter! The folks in that part of Wisconsin still speak English with a German accent or German with an English accent! Linguists have studied that part of the state for years.
A book called, “Stalag Wisconsin” details the POWs in Wisconsin.
The 1946 Wisconsin FFA Convention was held at the Marathon County Fairgrounds and took advantage of the facilities that were there from the POWs including housing and dining facilities.
Live Edge Wood –I spent some time in the Amish country of Ohio during July. I visited an Amish buggy shop and a live edge wood operation. I guess I am uninformed, but I had no idea what live edge wood was. So, of course I Googled it. Here is one definition of live edge wood – “A live edge slab is a piece of wood that still has the natural edges of the tree, which commonly include the bark. The width of a tree trunk will determine the width of the live edge slabs that can be achieved.” So basically live edge wood is the edge of a log that is removed so that the log is square and can be cut into boards. The edge might be crooked and have defects but is used to make projects.
The Amish family we visited was making benches, tables, serving trays, shelves, book cases, and other items from the live edge wood and selling it for healthy prices. They were also using colored epoxy to join pieces together, fill in holes, and make designs. I thought this is something agriculture teachers and their students could easily do. Just Google live edge to see examples.
Figure 1. A live edge shelf.
Figure 2. A live edge cutting board
Malabar Farm State Park – Jim Connors authored a Footnote back in January about Louis Bromfield and Malabar Farm. During July I visited the Malabar Farm State Park near Mansfield, Ohio. Bromfield was a noted author in the 1920s and one of the first proponents of contour farming, crop rotation and other sustainable agricultural practices in the 1930s. I toured the BIG house (that is what Bromfield called it) and took a tractor pulled trailer tour of the farm. I learned a lot about Bromfield and his farming practices. It was an interesting and educational visit. If you are taking students to the National FFA Convention from the Eastern part of the country this might be a nice stop.
Figure 3. Louis Bromfield’s desk. It is a little bigger than mine
Figure 4. Louis Bromfield hobnobbed with the Hollywood elite. Lauren Bacall came down the right staircase in Bromfield’s home to marry Humphrey Bogart.
Figure 5. A tractor tour of the Malabar Farm.
Fair Oaks Farm – Numerous FFA chapters visit Fair Oaks Farm (Located in Indiana between Indianapolis and Chicago right off Interstate 65) on their way to the National Convention. So I decided to check it out. It is impressive. There are three large educational buildings – The Pig Adventure, the Dairy Adventure, and the Crop Adventure. Each building has educational messaging along with play activities (designed for the younger visitors). There is also a birthing barn where dairy calves are being born.
Buses transport visitors to the Dairy Center and the Pig Center where one can observe a robotic dairy operation or an impressive swine birthing setup. Both are impressive, educational, and immense in scale.
Figure 6. Scenes from Fair Oaks Farm
Of course there is a café (called the cowfe), ice cream shop, and shopping opportunities. In one of the buildings (Crops) there is informational signage about the FFA and 4-H.
If you go, plan on spending a good half day or more. An hour or so just doesn’t cut it.
Concluding Remarks
Mark Twain said:
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.
I would agree with Mark Twain. We need to get out into the world. We might learn some new things.
On my visit to the Live Edge woodworking operation, a 16 year old Amish boy was explaining the operation to our group. I asked him a question that revealed he had worked at the family business since he had finished his formal education at the completion of 8th grade.
Figure 7. The 16 year old Amish boy talking about live edge wood slabs.
Later in the van, a lady was asking questions about this. She had no idea that Amish children typically only go through 8th grade. She was flabbergasted to say the least. Her world view regarding education was enlarged just a little from this encounter. My world view was also enlarged by learning about live edge wood.
A good goal for the year might be to plan some travel to someplace you have never been before.
