Beacon Dec 2023

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Page 6A THE BEACON December 2023 By Laura Keller Farming has been dubbed the world’s oldest profession. Long before grocery or convenience stores existed, people learned how to grow, harvest, and store their food. Farming has evolved quite a bit, and I had the pleasure of speaking with a couple of farmers in Dearborn County to learn what it’s like being a farmer in the twenty-first century. Bob Sommer grew up on a farm in Bear Branch, near Dillsboro. His father and grandfather were farmers, so farming was the only life Bob knew growing up. For Bob, that meant no sports or family vacations since the farm ran twenty-four hours a day, Farming – All in a Day’s Work seven days a week, three hundred sixty-five days a year. As a teenager, Bob decided he didn’t want to continue in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps. He enrolled at Ball State University to pursue a career path outside of farming. But in 1974, a tornado struck Bear Branch. Everything was destroyed, including the family home. Bob returned to Bear Branch to help rebuild the farm and took a job with Aurora Casket Company. He retired in 2017 and began working on the family farm full-time. After the tornado, it took a village to help rebuild the Sommer’s farm. Bob’s father, Earl, was fortunate to have so many good friends and employees who brought bulldozers and helped rebuild the farm buildings. The barn was built first because a place was needed to store hay. Bob recalls he and his family lived in a government trailer until their home was habitable. The Sommer farm has been in the family for 104 years. Mr. Sommer currently farms one hundred twenty-six acres. While that may sound like a lot of acreage to the average person, some farmers farm more than two thousand acres! Bob also helps another farmer who owns three hundred acres. Eddie and Johnny Zinser are sixth-generation farmers who reside in New Alsace. They farm one-hundred-fifty acres in northern Dearborn County. In total, they harvest around five hundred acres as they help farmers who don’t have equipment to harvest their crops. The Zinser family farm was established in 1846 and is comprised of one hundred forty-eight acres. While Eddie developed a passion for farming at a young age, Johnny wasn’t interested in pursuing farming until a few years ago. Both brothers worked for a machine shop making tool dies for Ford and John Deere before deciding two years ago to pursue their passion for farming and opening an auto shop. Farming has advanced a lot and some machinery can now be operated by a computer. Back when Bob Sommer first began farming, horses were the source of power. They were later replaced by tractors. Chemical and fertilizer sprayers can now be run by a computer. Farmers can now track areas that need extra fertilizer or can be skipped to ensure optimal performance. Autonomous combines and tractors have been engineered to run via satellites. The field boundaries are set and no one has to drive the combine or tractor – the computer takes care of it! However, many smaller farmers purchase used equipment or have someone else harvest the crop due to high equipment costs. They shop around a lot and may elect to purchase used equipment, a similar process many consumers go through when buying vehicles. Farming is extremely weather-dependent. Each year farmers invest in seed and fertilizer, and they rely on Mother Nature to nurture the crops. The Farmer’s Almanac, established in 1818, features long-range weather predictions based on the sun, moon, and planets to help farmers determine ideal planting times. While the Farmer’s Almanac is still a resource, meteorologists also predict the weather by referencing weather patterns and radar. The planting time each year can be a waiting game. While it’s best to wait until the temperature is warmer, a farmer tries to avoid frost which can result in rotten seeds. Planting while the ground is dry is best, but the fall harvest doesn’t depend on the weather as much as how hard the ground is. Mr. Sommer grows soybeans and corn, rotating his crop each year to keep the insects down. He also puts in hay and raises beef cattle. Bob’s favorite part of farming is fall and harvesting when he can enjoy the fruits of his labor. The Zinsers farm corn and soybeans as well as raise cattle and hogs for their family. Eddie’s favorite part of farming is planting time. Watching the plants grow gives him immense satisfaction, whereas Johnny enjoys harvesting. Like Bob, he enjoys seeing the results of his hard work. Farmers may select to purchase crop insurance which guarantees a certain percentage of their yield based on history to help cover a farmer’s costs in the event the crop doesn’t produce a fruitful harvest. The next time you pass a farm or see a farmer driving a tractor down the road, I hope you have a deeper appreciation for the work that farmers do to provide a habitat for animals and the food we rely upon for nourishment. While farming may sound like a daunting job, it’s all in a day’s work for a local farmer. B Beacon USINESS NEWS ABOUT OUR ADVERTISERS New Seasons Celebrates Community, New Location New Seasons Auction and Estates recently held a Grand Reopening and Community Celebration. The event, however, was much more than touting their new location at 201 Third Street, Aurora, IN. Owner Sherry Love took the opportunity to give back to the community that has been so supportive of her efforts. Main Street Aurora kicked off the event with a ribbon cutting. Over twenty vendors and several food trucks were accompanied by face painters to commemorate the event. Yummy cotton candy, free to the community, made the event even sweeter. Two great fund raisers were also part of the day’s festivities. One was a dunk tank, Credibility • Advocacy • Education • Visibility What Can The Chamber Do For You? Just Ask! 812-537-0814 www.dearborncountychamber.org City Attorney Jared Ewbank volunteered to participate in the dunking booth. the proceeds supporting the Aurora EMS. Several Aurora officials and candidates, plus other brave individuals volunteered to make this a splashing success. The second fund raiser was a cakewalk to support Special Olympics. All of the vendors as well as some great individuals made delicious donations. Live music was heard throughout the event as performed by Paul Elliot, Jon Armstrong, and Dave Lewis. For more information visit newseasonsestatesales.com. (See ad on page 7A) The BEACON - Great News for Great People.
December 2023 THE BEACON Page 7A FROM H ere By Ollie Roehm Last month’s column was about things that irritate me. So, since it felt really good and because I’m a nasty, smelly, whiney, funky old curmudgeon, I’m going to hit you with another dose. This is the stuff that makes a person go, “Huh? What’s the point?” OK, here we go. 1. People who have conversations with animals. We live next to the apartment building from hell and there is an apartment that borders our back porch, about 30 feet away. The couple in that apartment can’t say “Please pass the salt” without yelling it. Everything is at the top of their lungs. Everything. We call them Ozzie and Harriet. Ozzie and Harriet have two cats, Spike and Shadow, and a little mangy mutt they call Susie. They often let the animals outside to do their business in the parking lot, which is also right next to our back porch. So we get to hear stuff, and sometimes it gets weird. Ozzie and Harriet talk (yell) to their animals and seem to expect them to answer. Here is an example of what I’m talking about. Harriet: “SHADOW, WHERE IS SPIKE? DO YOU KNOW WHERE HE WENT? STAY RIGHT HERE WHILE I GO FIND HIM. SHADOW, I SAID STAY RIGHT THERE!” Shadow: ————— Harriet: “AND IF SPIKE COMES BACK TELL HIM TO STAY RIGHT THERE TOO. SHADOW, STAY THERE! DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME? SHADOW, LIS- TEN TO ME!!!” Shadow: ————— Ozzie seems to be in charge of Susie’s potty habits. Here is a typical conversation between Ozzie and his Wonderdog on a typical day. Ozzie: “GO ON, SUSIE - GO TO THE BATHROOM!” Susie: ————— Ozzie: Points to a spot in the parking lot. GO RIGHT OVER THERE SUSIE! NO, RIGHT OVER THERE - LOOK AT MY FINGER!!! SUSIE, LISTEN TO ME! DON’T YOU HEAR WHAT I’M SAYIN’!?” Susie: ————— The whole scene is too loud, obnoxious, and stupid to be funny. But here’s what is funny: I hear them do it so much that I sometimes find myself waiting for an answer from their pets. But I quickly come to my senses and think, “What’s the point?” 2. Decaffeinated coffee I have a good friend and fellow musical traveler who has to have his coffee in the morning. Just has to have it. A lot of people enjoy the wake-up qualities of caffeine, myself included. I have two cups of extra-strong black tea every morning and have been doing it for decades. The stuff gets my motor running and sends me on my way. But my buddy drinks decaffeinated coffee. And I scratch my feeble old noggin and say, “What’s the point?” 3. Crowded campgrounds Every time I drive past a certain RV campground in the area I end up scratching the old noggin again. In fact, I’ve almost scratched a hole in my bean thinking about this one. I see a whole bunch of campers lined up next to each other about twenty feet apart if that. They open their door and somebody is sitting in a lawn chair right in front of them. People and campers are to the right, to the left, behind them, and in front of them. Call me crazy but I think the main reason to have an RV is to get away from it all. These people spend thousands of dollars for an RV, insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc. Then they take the thing and set it up in a trailer park. Huh? There are many other “what’s the point?” situations I could talk about but I have to wrap things up so I can make a couple of important announcements. Harrison Center for the Arts will present “American Christmas Carol.” This will be the hard-working new group’s second offering and is sure to be a fine one. Their first production was a big hit and drew large audiences. Harrison VOCE will offer its annual Christmas concert on Sunday, Dec. 10, at 4 p.m., at the Harrison High School Martin Marietta Performing Arts Theater. The group is celebrating its tenth anniversary and the community is invited to share in the fun. I’m going. Next Beacon Ad Deadline Nov. 27 Visit goBEACONnews.com for news and updates. This month’s item What Is It? Last month’s item, submitted by Don Bolten, Bright, was identified as a Bunion stretcher by Paul and Sarah Baker Nahmias, Greensburg. It is used to stretch a leather shoe that is too tight around the big toe. Other guesses ranged from a cherry pitter, a tool to put rings in bulls’ noses, to hog castration pliers! This month’s item was submitted by Mike Meyer, Last month’s item: Bunion stretcher Lawrenceburg. It has been hanging in his neighbor Carl’s barn for decades and measures four feet long. Share your story as well as your guess! Please e-mail your answer and where you live to editor@goBEACONnews.com by Wednesday, November 22, 2023. sponsored by Cornerstone Realty and Lutz Auctions A HANDS-ON CAREER with ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES –Top-notch, affordable education through the bachelor’s degree in Land Surveying is available at Cincinnati State’s Clifton campus. –Earn your Associate and Bachelor’s degree at Cincinnati State. –Gain experience using state of the art field equipment and computer software in the classroom and during your paid co-op semesters. –Graduates are eligible to take the NCEES FS exam and NSPS CST certification exams. –Starting annual salaries of $35,000 to $55,000 or higher with employers in the tri-state and throughout the United States. –Indiana and Kentucky students may qualify for Ohio in-state tuition. –Scholarships available. Veterans and transfer students welcome. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Carol Morman PS, PE - Land Surveying Program Chair 513-569-1743 carol.morman@cincinnatistate.edu CLIFTON CAMPUS: 3520 Central Parkway, Cincinnati, Ohio 45223 Get it All at www.goBEACONnews.com
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Page 9 and 10: By Jack Zoller beaconsports @live.c
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Beacon Dec 2023

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