January 2015 THE CULTIVATOR 2015 Planning & Advisory Committee Beverly Ransler, Chairperson (269) 998-3806 Pam Bristle Kim Clunis Louise Courter Leslie Daenzer Katie Dellar Christine Gelder Ruth Gulvas Shari Konkel Sandy Maynard Barbara Miller Brenda Netzley Sheryl Oswalt Emelee Rajzer Debbie Rasmussen Dawn Schwab Julie Schwab Wanda Skinner Wendy Stein Agnes Talaski Karen Uebler Holiday Inn— Midland, MI Hello fellow farm chicks! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. For me, it was snowing and we still had corn standing in the field. I looked around the table and saw all the healthy faces. Sure we need the corn to feed the cows, but we could buy corn if it came to that; it might hurt the checkbook a little but I couldn’t buy the healthy handsome faces of my third and fourth generation family. We face all the problems that others do, but actually they are small and can be handled. I counted my blessings with a big smile on my face. Our committee has found a very nice hotel in Midland. The Holiday Inn has good sized rooms with kitchenettes – sink, refrigerator, microwave. On our visit in November, Pam & I found the pillows to be great; hopefully they aren’t worn out by March! Julie and the program committee have another great line-up of speakers for an informative and fun-filled meeting. I’ll keep my hands off the weather machine so hopefully we will have good weather. I guess I pushed the wrong buttons last year. I’ll keep my hands in my pockets, ha….ha… All kidding aside, I hope you are talking to all your friends and telling them what a great program we have at FWS and they should join you for the fun. This is an event where farm women can talk to each other and not have to explain what we are talking about. Sure there are many specialties; fruit, livestock, grain, dairy but we are all producing food for people. We are FARM SISTERS! We all know what it’s like; meals to the fields, driving machinery or trucks; or the call you get that starts out “Honey are you busy? I just broke down – can you go get parts so I can keep going?” Don’t argue; just love him, because without him it’s a lot worse. Unfortunately many in our group have had to find that out. Farming is a good life. When I was watching the snow the other day, it gave me a good feeling to know there was hay in the barn, corn silage in the bunkers, grain in the bins and the cows were safe and warm in the free stall barns. Hopefully by the time this reaches you all the Big Boy toys will be parked in the tool sheds and your “crops” safely harvested. Now sit down and take a few deep breaths. Then get up and do all the things you have been putting off. Remember farming is a good life. So much for the ramblings of this old farm wife! The Committee plans are falling into place and we want you to join us in Midland on March 11 th, 12th and 13th. I’m so looking forward to seeing my old friends from Michigan and Indiana – and all the new ones that I’m going to make in Midland. See you in March! Love, Beverly Ransler FWS for March 2015 As I sit here to write my article for The Cultivator it is just 8 days before Christmas and we still have about 100 acres of corn in the field. This is partly because the corn has been to wet, but also because a neighboring farmer is buying it from us and he is having problems with his silo unloader…… always something to keep our lives “interesting” I certainly hope that by the time you are reading this, after the first of the year, the corn will have been harvested and the fields will just be waiting for spring to arrive! I also hope that you are waiting for March and our time together at the 2015 Farm Women’s Symposium. After another successful symposium in 2014, the committee has been working hard to once again find interesting and educational programs for this year. Director Jamie Clover Adams from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will be with us once again this year. We all know that laws and rules are constantly changing in our business so we are pleased that Director Adams will be able to give us the latest updates on what is happening in regards to our industry. Our key-note speaker this year is Kathy Peterson from Iowa. At the age of 5 Kathy was already an aspiring speaker. She would talk to anyone who would listen! She put herself through college and started her first successful business at age 19. In 1998 she started her new venture, PeopleWorks because it is about the PEOPLE who truly make things WORK (that’s us). Kathy and her husband are proud to be the fifth generation to live and work on the Peterson family farm in Storm Lake, Iowa. I’m sure we will all laugh and learn from the 2 topics we have chosen for her presentations....they are “Working With You is Killing Me” and “Finding Happiness in the Craziness of Life”! Both of these can apply to our lives on the farm or occupations you may have out in the “real” world. We will once again have 3 local agricultural businesses explain what they do on their unique operations. We will hear from the Waibel’s, who are bee keepers, JoanMarie Weiss, who has a corm maze each fall and Mark & Miranda Daniels, who met at MSU and now raise plants in a huge greenhouse for Bonnie Plants. While all these farm stories are interesting, I think you will be inspired by the Daniels story. I am truly amazed by the work this young couple has accomplished since graduating from MSU. We will end Wednesday’s program with something a little different. Teresa Irish, is also a graduate of MSU, and after the death of her father she opened a trunk that had been in the house all her life. Inside she found 1,000 letters he had sent home during World War II. Five and a half years later she brought the book “A Thousand Letters Home” to print. Her presentation is a heartfelt tribute to America’s history, freedoms and family values. To be totally honest, we have really struggled to find agriculture in Midland for March. We have plans to visit the famous Doherty Hotel in Clare along with the Cops & Donuts bakery and gift store. We’ll tour the state-of-the-art Loons Stadium with their 168 solar panels; rated one of the best stadiums in the Country. We’ve arranged for a private showing of the film “Farmland” where we can see for ourselves if the film has hit the mark on the realities of farming. We plan to return early enough to give you plenty time to enjoy the shopping opportunities offered in this area of our great State. Friday we will hear from Dr. Kelvin Grant on GMO and non-GMO seeds and how technology will be changing how we farm in the future. After a segment by Chemical Bank staff on organizing your critical financial documents, we will end FWS 2015 with Leslie Norris Townsend. Leslie left behind a promising acting career in Hollywood for life on the farm in rural Ohio on her family’s 100 year old farm. She will give us an intriguing look at marriage, motherhood and the perfect balancing act desired by women. She will move us from tears to laughter and will be sure to send us home on the positive, upbeat feelings we need in our lives. Can’t wait to see you in Midland! Julie Schwab The committee visits the Holiday Inn in Midland, Michigan You have spoken—and we are Listening! We take the responses to our program survey very seriously; and sometimes a little too personally. Fortunately over the years, we’ve developed thick skins! We continue to look at what factors effect our participants whether it be positive or negative. While most of us realize that hotels have additional charges for taxes, it’s always an unpleasant surprise to see how they add up. This years registration will include the full nightly hotel cost. We know you love to shop and want more free time. We are looking at a shorter bus trip this year, but remember we are a non-profit & this is an educational event. We owe it to our sponsors and scholarship donors to have a full program for their investment. We heard that you love ending with humor so we plan to continue that! Being that many people eat before they arrive; we plan to continue having a continental type breakfast on Wednesday. One issue we can’t fully address is the limited funds for those that aren’t GreenStone customers. Since we are a non-profit organization ourselves, we have toyed with the idea of offering scholarships of our own. Unfortunately, historically we have had years where we didn’t have funds in our own coffers to do such a thing. Our registration fee has stayed very level and basically covers the cost of the meals. While it can be a farm write-off, I realize that the money still needs to be in the account. Where else can you send your chief financial officer to an educational seminar for less than $2/day! Start a vacation fund. Be creative – what can you do to save $10/week; maybe only stay over two nights? DON’T be too shy to ask the people you do business with to sponsor you. Make the investment in you—you are worth it!! You have asked for more information; what to wear, what activities are going on in the evenings and social type questions. Please feel free to call Julie or I at the numbers listed on the registration. Post a question on our Facebook page; probably others have the same question. First; dress comfortably. The temperatures in these hotels vary; dress in layers. Jeans are fine. Some enjoy dressing up and that is great! Midland Holiday Inn doesn’t have a hospitality room and they only allow their food and drink in the pool area but we are working on some alternative get-together ideas. Stay tuned! If you are looking for a group to hang out with; please, talk to a committee member and we will find you some fun people to hang out with! Finally, we are set to address the age old problem of disruptive table talk with the addition of the Sergeantat-Arms. Wendy Stein has graciously accepted this position. We fully intend to crack down on disruptions out of respect to our speakers and our fellow participants. I hope you have found this information helpful, and feel free to contact me if you still have questions or concerns. See you in March! Sheryl Oswalt [email protected] (269) 330-2529 **Silent Auction Reminder** Hello Ladies! We have made it through harvest, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. Now we move onto Christmas, New Years and then Farm Women’s Symposium! It will be here before you know it. Oh, I can’t wait to see all of you to renew old friendships and make new friends, to hear all the stories we all have of our farming experiences. Both good and bad. Funny and sad. Silent Auction brings with it some fantastic “deals” as well. We continue to have something for everyone; from expensive to very reasonable—everything DONATED. Thank You to all of you for your donations and support to help make FWS a memorable time for everyone. Anyone who has a donation for Silent Auction, may email me at [email protected], with the name and address of donor, description of item. This makes it much less confusing when you bring your donations to Symposium. Remember, no item is too small or too large and all the money that is made goes towards next year’s Symposium. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. See you all March 11-13, 2015, in Midland, Michigan. Best Wishes Pam Bristle Farm Women’s Symposium c/o Sheryl Oswalt 16029 S 33rd Street Vicksburg, MI 49097 Address Correction Requested Don’t forget to make your room reservations Holiday Inn - Midland! Farm Women’s Symposium looses a good friend…… Many of you may not be aware, but the planning committee lost a valuable member and a good friend this past summer. Shirley Hazle passed away suddenly on July 23, 2014 at the age of 82. She had been on committee for the past 20 years. In 2014, she was thrilled to be accompanied to FWS with both her daughters, Kathy Hazle and Dana Sue Kirk, as well as her grand-daughter Lindsay Garrison who was also one of our presenters. She was very active in local government, 4-H programs at multiple levels and also in several dairy organizations. I had the pleasure of having Shirley ride with me to several meetings over the past years and she was a joy to have along. She had many great stories and she was a shining example of a strong, intelligent female that never let her gender get in the way. She was truly admirable. Her full obituary is viewable at www.legacy.com. She will be sorely missed by friends, family and her community. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to her husband George and their children and grandchildren.
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