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News from Garfield Farm |
Reservations are due April 9th for the Saturday
April 17 Garfield Farm Museum annual awards ceremony at the historic
Dunham Woods Riding Club in Wayne, IL. The reception begins a 6 pm
followed by dinner and an 8 pm awards ceremony. Reservations for the
evening should be made as soon as possible.
The 17th will be a special night as the
evening is dedicated in honor of the Jay and Lyla Johnsen Family of
Danerie Farms. For over 33 years they have farmed the cropped fields of
Garfield Farm Museum and have a special relationship to the farm, the
museum, and the community. The advance of suburban sprawl and the
consolidation of farms have resulted in people who actually farm the
land becoming a rarity. In the case of the Johnsen family, their
relationship predates Garfield Farm Museum as the late Jay
Johnsen’s father Jens first farmed land of Elva Garfield’s
family. They became permanent neighbors when Jay purchased Elva’s
south farm on Rt. 38 in 1961. Through the years, Jay and his farming
sons, Steve as a youth and Rod, K.C, and Todd as adults, planted the
fields and rotated crops with grains, hay, corn and beans using a
minimum of chemicals and plenty of nature’s compost from their
dairy herd. They have supply the museum’s animals with hay and
whenever an extra hand or farm machinery is needed for special projects
the Johnsens always find time despite milking schedules or rushes to
get the hay baled. Always good humored and with time to visit, the
family has taken a serious interest in the museum’s activities
since its beginning. Though they now own other farms farther away, they
have retained the farmstead and several acres they bought from Elva and
still operate museum land and other nearby properties. They may well be
the last traditional generational farm family left in the immediate
neighborhood.
This year’s awards recognize one
organization and an individual and family for being good stewards of
the historic, agricultural or natural environments.
Daniel Bussey of Edgerton, WI has found time
apart from his business to be one of the Midwest’s most
knowledgeable experts on antique apple tree varieties. He has had over
300 varieties in a backyard orchard which includes several that were
thought to have become extinct until he rediscovered them. Functioning
as a volunteer adviser on apples with the Seed Savers Exchange of
Decorah, IA, he has helped SSE expand its competence and reach to
preserve our horticultural genetic diversity. He is in the process of
publishing a book based on a 1905 USDA list made of over 6000 apple
varieties of that era. Less than 2000 of those survive today. The
publication will include historic illustrations of these apples.
Through the years with his 100 year old plus commercial apple cider
press, he has made some unique ciders with different types of apples
possessing different degrees of tartness, sweetness, and flavors. For
over 23 years he has volunteered his knowledge to teach antique apple
tree grafting seminars at the museum. His remarkable dedication as an
enthusiast who truly has become an expert makes him an excellent
candidate to receive the Garfield Farm Museum Agricultural Conservation
Award.
Just as there was no Garfield Tavern until
Bryant Durant laid the bricks to it in 1846, there most likely would
not have been a Garfield Farm Museum if Restorations of Kane County
(RKC) now named Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley, had not been
in existence. For over 35 years Preservation Partners has been both an
advocate as well as a doer of historic preservation in the Fox Valley.
When it first formed as RKC , it was to save and preserve the Bryant
Durant House located in LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles, IL.
An antique enthusiasts club, the Thornapple Chapter, a local Questers
International branch, had begun efforts to preserve the brick
mason’s 1843 home when RKC was formed. When Elva Garfield read of
the work, she contacted one of RKC’s founders, Eve Johnson, for
help to preserve her family home and farm. Through the years
Preservation Partners has restored and preserved Durant House, the
William Beith house, and with Friends of Fabyan, the Fabyan Villa and
Japanese gardens. Most recently PPFV has undertaken the preservation of
the 1893 Viking ship sailed to America from Scandinavia for
Chicago’s 1893 Columbian Exposition. For Preservation Partners
continued and successful sustained efforts, the museum is please to
award PPFV with a Historic Preservation Award.
What is the culmination of a decade of
work from initial planning to referendum passing, and then negotiating
and buying, Campton Township’s Open Space Program has acquired a
very special property. As all sellers of land to the program had to be
willing to sell to the township, it is very exciting to see the 200
acre Gray Willow Farm become part of the preserved open space in
Campton. Not everyone might want or be willing to sell their property
for such use so it is gratifying to be able to recognize the Lillian
Fessenden Family as a Co-operator for Campton’s Conservation.
Over 1300 acres of land has been preserved for open space in Campton.
Garfield Farm Museum established these awards
in 1989 to recognize groups and individuals who were making
contributions to historic, environmental or agricultural preservation
/education, three themes that the museum emphasizes. Advanced
reservations and payment are required for the dinner which is $50 per
person. Reservations can be made by calling 630 584-8485 or by emailing
info@garfieldfarm.org. Garfield Farm Museum is the most
historically intact former 1840s Illinois prairie farmstead and
teamster inn that is being restored as an 1840s working farm. Tours are
given year round by appointment.