Granby Living July 2018

CELEBRATING OUR SENIORS
GINNY WUTKA OF LOST ACRES ORCHARD
Charity, industry and community are hallmarks of her life
By Sarah Merrill
As Virginia “Ginny” Wutka and I sit in the
family’s barn on a rainy spring day, discussing
her life and Lost Acres Orchard, a handful
of regular customers pass by, on their way to
lunch on the farm store’s newly enclosed porch.
Ginny asks them the simple question, “Why
do people come here?”
The responses convey similar sentiments: “For
community — and the food is really good” ...
“The slower pace of life” ... “The beautiful atmosphere”
... “The food is amazing, and you always
feel good here” ... “This is one of my favorite
places in Granby — it’s where I can exhale.”
Lost Acres Orchard reflects Ginny’s values
— a diligent work ethic, a focus on charity, a
commitment to learning and a spirit of community
— which can all be traced back to her
upbringing.
Ginny (Bauder) Wutka was born in 1940
and grew up in rural Pennsylvania. One of six
children, she says she grew up in a very poor
family: “My mother had a third-grade education
but she was the wisest woman who ever
lived. She said to us, ‘Go beat them with your
brains.’”
Her family rented land from an uncle and
grew vegetables. Ginny and her siblings worked
in the fields after school and stayed up late
on Thursday and Friday nights, shelling lima
beans. They “huckstered” the vegetables doorto-door
and were not allowed to come home
until they’d sold all of them.
“We learned negotiating skills as kids,” says
Ginny. “Our parents gave us the freedom to negotiate,
to learn. I don’t think I was ever yelled
at. We knew what we had to do in order that we
could do what we wanted to do.”
In 1953, the Bauder family bought a farm
and raised, sold and delivered turkeys. On
top of her farm duties, Ginny was an excellent
student and loved playing sports. She especially
excelled at field hockey. “I always played to
win,” she says with a laugh.
For several summers in high school and
college, Ginny ran a large produce stand for a
gentleman who went on to become the “biggest
produce person in eastern Pennsylvania.” She
worked 12-hour days, five days per week.
In addition to hard work, Ginny’s mother
and their Mennonite faith taught her the importance
of charity.
“We were taught to step up and say, ‘Let me
help you,’” Ginny says. There was always room
for one more at her mother’s table.
Ginny’s father also embodied a charitable
life. He worked for a dairy during the Depression,
and even when customers could not pay
their bills, he always left milk for the families
who had babies in the house. Of course,
Ginny’s father would absorb the loss.
Ginny recalls that in 1953 a couple showed
up at the door and handed her parents a large
check. These people had been babies during the
Depression and Ginny’s father had made sure
they had milk.
“My whole life I’ve tried to embody that idea:
You give not because you expect something in
return — you give because you have the ability
to do so,” says Ginny. “Tom and I give a lot ...
whatever we can. We live simply. We feel that
everything we have belongs to God. We are just
stewards.”
Ginny in 1959
Ginny has known her husband, Thomas
Wutka, since junior high school. They both attended
Penn State. Tom graduated and moved
to Connecticut, and that summer (1960) they
got married. Ginny completed her studies at
UConn, graduating from the School of Education
and working as a substitute teacher for
many years.
8 | JULY 2018