Note: This is the first blog in an occasional series featuring visits with Center supporters.
Introduction
I’ve put in some serious windshield time this year. Mornings have been early and evenings have gone late. I’ve honestly loved every minute. And while getting to see different parts of our big, beautiful country is wonderful, the most rewarding part of my travels is meeting people like you.
In my role as development manager at the Center, I have the pleasure of connecting with our community of supporters and partners, who strive alongside us to build a thriving rural future. Your experiences, ideas, determination, and yes, your financial contributions, power the Center. I’ve never ended a day of visits feeling less than inspired.
If you’re reading this, I’m very much talking about you. My favorite ways to connect are over the phone and in person. You too? You should call me at 402.499.2781. I’m also happy to email and send snail mail, so don’t be shy. You can reach me at [email protected] and at the Center’s home office at P.O. Box 136, Lyons, NE 68038.
Invite me over for coffee. Tell me your background, your rural interests and concerns. I want to hear your feedback and your ideas. I want to swap stories. I want to meet your dog.
One of my go-to first questions when chatting with Center supporters is “How’d you first get connected to our work?” It might surprise you how often people respond with “I’m not sure” or “I don’t remember!” My takeaway is that it doesn’t matter how you got connected; you’ve stayed.
You like what we do.
The feeling is mutual. And today I want to share a few notes from recent visits with Center supporters. Thank you again for all you do to craft a welcoming and resilient rural tomorrow. We’re in this together.
Planning a trip with our policy director
Jillian Linster and I don’t get a chance to see each other often. Jillian is the Center’s policy director and is based in our home office in Lyons, Nebraska. I work from my home about 90 minutes south. But we both know how valuable it is to build connections with colleagues and within the communities we serve.
At last spring’s all-staff gathering, Jillian and I started dreaming up ways to jointly travel through Iowa. We put our heads together to develop a packed and productive mid-summer road trip.
And then we spent 40 hours over three days traversing the state.
We wanted to meet with our Iowa-based coworkers, visit dedicated Center supporters, and get to know different people and parts of the state better. Building relationships with rural communities and landscapes is the foundation of our work. Your experiences inform our perspective at the Center, and help us be the best rural advocates we can be.
Connecting with supporters
Our first stop was a field day at Center Advisory Committee member Lee Tesdell’s farm near Slater. Here, we connected with coworkers, brushed up on conservation practices and all things soil pit, and sponsored a locally sourced lunch. The field day and shared meal were opportunities for farmers, their families, and conservation professionals to come together, learn and share, enjoy some local food and drink, and talk shop.
We pushed eastward, and stopped for a delightful conversation with Bill McDonald, a longtime family farmer and friend of the Center, in the North English area. We sat in lawn chairs under the shade of a long-established maple, and from this spot in the yard we had a clear view of the fields Bill’s dad farmed with a team of horses until 1940. We could see down the valley where Bill and neighbors came together to push back on the hog confinements slated for the area. And we had a view of solar panels near his bin site and of a happy hog catching some fresh air.
The next day, Jillian and I arrived in Kalona for coffee with Bill Furlong, another Bill who is passionate about policy, conservation, and conversation. We could have talked for hours, and lucky for us, we had arranged for just that. Bill joined us later for a group gathering of Center supporters from east central Iowa.
We found our way on foot to the nearby Methodist Fellowship Hall, where we met with colleague Tod Bowman and half a dozen other inspiring Iowans. When you know you’re all part of the Center family to begin with, quality conversation comes organically. I shouldn’t have been surprised that a few folks were already acquainted. Connections and reconnections were made. Topics spanned from landowners and tenants working together toward common long-term goals to legislative engagement to ag drainage wells. We even got to preview Mary Swander’s newest play, “Squatters on Red Earth,” and tour her downtown studio.
The cherry on top of this already great day was a visit with Pat Lamb, whose support of the Center was shared deeply by her late husband, Don. Pat’s continued support of the Center carries out her own values as well as Don’s legacy. Jillian and I enjoyed Pat’s home-cooked meal, reveled in the quilts she makes with her daughter, and finished the evening in the best way: rocking in chairs on her front porch, overlooking a lush field and quiet gravel road, enjoying each other’s company, and identifying birds.
The last day of the trip started with lunch in Ames. Our colleague Anna Johnson joined us at Neal and Jan Flora’s home, and we enjoyed yet another robust chat over another tasty meal. We talked about cover crop trials, perennial grains, Solar for All, our families, and the other adventures we were all up to that week. This visit felt like a reunion with old friends.
Wrapping up a wonderful trip
Jillian and I were nearly hoarse, and quite sore, when we returned to our rendezvous point in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. We sorted our jerky, our cookies, our coffee mugs. We embraced in that slightly delirious way after sharing such a rewarding and mentally stimulating experience.
We headed down our separate paths home, grateful to you all for your care and engagement in the Center’s work, for your welcoming arms, and for the enthusiasm we share to build a thriving future.
Feature photos: Top is Erin and Lee Mickey. Middle is Lee Mickey, Peg Bouska, and Mary Swander. Bottom is Center staff Andrew Tonnies, Cynthia Farmer, Jillian Linster, and Kelsey Willardson at Lee Tesdell's field day.
