Cross Country: Wisconsin Mennonite businesses are thriving

Tag : Used Sewing Machines

No. Clark County, Wisconsin, where some 30 years ago, a fewMennonite farm families migrated from Pennsylvania. Today, thatmove by a very few to Thorp, Wis., has resulted in a thrivingfarming and business community of about 300 families.
The recent annual bicycle tour by an informal group called "WrightRiders" that had its start in the 1970s (I first joined in 1989 ona 580-mile trip from Alton, Ill., to Madison) allowed a close-upview of a way of life lived by "horse and buggy" Mennonites as theycall themselves.
Henry Zeisit and his wife, Martha, brought a semi-trailer load ofmilking cows from Pennsylvania to Thorp in 1977. "Farmland priceshad risen so high that it was impossible for us to buy land for afarm," Zeisit says. "A couple of families had made the move in 1974and found Wisconsin to be an ideal place to farm."
And, the Zeisits found the move to be a good one.
A number of their children are now farming on their own and sonMartin and his wife, Janette, recently moved on to the home farmand are milking the 70 cows in the tie-stall barn. Henry and Marthamoved to a remodeled farmhouse nearby this past spring where hecontinues to help with the cropping on the 320 acres. He is also inthe process of redoing the old barn on the property as a heiferfacility.
Although Old Order Mennonites do not drive cars or trucks, they douse the most modern farm machinery and equipment. Their tractors donot have rubber tires, however; they run on steel wheels. Zeisitexplains that their practice is that self-propelled machines shouldnot run on rubber, although grain drills, balers, and other farmequipment that is pulled do have tires.
In the Mennonite community, if you aren't a farmer, chances are youwork at a Mennonite-owned business, of which there are many.
The Central Wisconsin Produce Auction at Withee (toll free at877-220-4838) is one such business. This Mennonite wholesalecooperative dates to 2000 and serves flower and produce growers ina 100-mile radius. Many dairy and crop farmers in the area haveadded greenhouses to expand their farming enterprises with thethree-day a week auction offering a ready market for their product.
Each producers' products are sold individually at auction toretailers from the surrounding area.
One such longtime buyer is James Weaver, who operates Weaver'sCountry Store at Fall Creek on U.S. 12 near Eau Claire some 40miles away. He purchased a flat of lilies' (for store decorations),several 25 pound boxes of tomatoes at $50 each and strawberries at$25 for an eight-quart box.
Weaver said that tomatoes had sold for $68 for a 25-pound box theweek previously (a very high price) because consumers wantedlocally grown Wisconsin tomatoes because of the salmonella scare.
The market operates three days a week from the last week in Aprilthrough mid-September and twice a week through October and hasproved to be successful for both producers and buyers.
Who would be brash enough to locate a sewing and furniture store ona country road a mile-and-a-half from two very small rural cities,Owen and Withee, and 40-plus miles from the bigger cities of EauClaire, Wausau and Marshfield?
John Brubaker did and it has proved to be successful.
Brubaker came to the area from Pennsylvania to farm and milk cows.Like many of the Mennonite transplants, he had an entrepreneurialspirit that wouldn't be denied.
His mother was a Bernina sewing machine dealer in Pennsylvania, andBrubaker decided to establish his own dealership. (You can reachhim at 715-229-2851.)
He started with a small room, grew to a bigger room, then a mobilehome and finally the large building which now houses sewingmachines, hundreds of bolts of fabric, an expanding furnituredepartment, Bernina sewing machines and high-tech embroideryequipment.
The furniture is unusual in that it is made by local artisans. It'swell-built. Brubaker, not a small man, stood in the drawer of abedroom dresser and did no damage. The furniture is pricedeconomically, and, although located on a rural road, customers froma long distance do manage to find the store . Oh yes, he alsooffers sewing lessons.
Although Brubaker doesn't milk cows anymore, he still raises corn,soybeans and hay on the farm.
Just west of Withee, Elvin Eberly makes and restores horse-drawnvehicles at his Eberly Coach Works (715-229-2222) .
As a 17-year-old, Eberly was pondering a future for himself. Heconcluded that because his Mennonite family and friends all usedhorses and buggies, that would be a good area to work in.
Seventeen-and-a-half years later, Eberly and his seven employeesare building buggies and working on a 100-year-old funeral hearsewagon that will undergo a complete restoration. The BaldwinWisconsin owner of the elaborate vehicle is encouraging Eberly toget the job done rapidly.
"He says he wants it done before he has to use it for himself, "Eberly says with a laugh. "He is planning to rent the hearse and ateam of horses for other funerals."
Eberly learned on the job. "That's the best way to learn and toremember what you learn," he says. "And there is a lot to learn asmost every buggy is almost a custom project what with two dozenoptions in colors and upholstery including 30 different wheelsizes. For sure, a young mans courting buggy is a lot differentfrom a family transportation buggy."
The young entrepreneur is in the process of offering some productshe uses to others on a wholesale basis as many buggy makers aresmall and are scattered across the country.
Then there is the Hardware Hank store at the junction of County Xand Frenchtown Road west of Withee that is undergoing majorremodeling. All the clerks wear modest clothing -- full dresses andhead pieces for woman, dark trousers and suspenders for the men.Would you believe, the hardware store has a rather extensivebicycle shop?
It was a fascinating experience riding bicycles in northern Clarkcounty, visiting Mennonite businesses and farms and learning much.One of the questions we pondered is; How do Mennonite farmers andbusiness entrepreneurs create and own such innovative, complicatedand rather high-tech enterprises without the benefit of computers,high school or college educations or outside consultants?
As one Mennonite friend explained, it's a combination of family,ambition, need and community. Whatever the ingredients for suchsuccess, it works.
While Clark County has long been Wisconsin's leading dairy countyin terms of farm numbers and milk production, the Mennonitecommunity that lives in the northern third of the county from Thorpto Abbotsford is building a diversified and thriving farm andbusiness community.
Not a bad idea long term.