It’s a joy waking up ….

It’s a joy waking up here every morning. Well, besides the fact that I lived another night and am getting a day closer to my goal of being 100.

The scene that greets me is out of this world. I’m in the end unit of the new Rehab building and I can look out across Highway 29 clear down to the edge of the county property a half mile away. Traffic is buzzing by on Highway 29 and County Trunk X which at one time was Highway 29 and it is hard to imagine all the traffic bunched up on a two-lane highway. The one-way traffic heads east before it turns north to the employee parking lot.

It has been a number of years since I read the 50th anniversary booklet and am not sure if this was just farmland, or if it was partially wooded. Nevertheless the trees are old and could be well over a 100 years old. That’s how long the main facility has been here. I told you a few weeks ago a big 100th anniversary celebration is being planned for mid September.

The trees provide shelter for lots of birds who can be seen hopping around early in the morning in search of worms and bugs. They are joined by a couple of squirrels and rabbits and this morning was a real surprise.

The squirrel climbing up and down the old spruce tree was a black one. I don’t know how rare they are, but the last one I saw was in the woods when I was out hunting with my Dad’s .22. I must say, once it was skinned and fried, it tasted just like the meat of the gray one I shot that day.

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To drive by today wouldn’t give you the impression this was once a huge farm. It was part of the program way back when to have a farm and use the men who lived on it doing all the work. The women were kept busy inside the asylum, as it was called back then, and no one ever seemed to bother them.

Then some changes came about, and I guess I might have had a little hand in that. I recall when Arlyn Mills, the administrator, would appear before the county board much of the discussion centered around the farm operation. Caring for the residents didn’t seem to interest them.

Another factor involved was something called the fair labor law and it was wrong that we were only paying some of the residents who work a token wage, kind of based on their ability.

The county had to give back pay to those workers who had it coming.

It was a real mess as in some cases if they took the money they would be cut off from the care program if their funds kept exceeded the limits. I should know as Shelly has been under those rules since she first started at ADS right out of high school. For some reason the limit remains the same some fifty years later.

What developed was kind of a three time winner. The farming operation ended, the land was sold to the State of Wisconsin to replace wetlands destroyed in the construction of four lane Highway 29 and enough land was kept for the Clark County Living Center as well as the waste water lagoon south of the highway.

As I said, much care is taken to keep the grounds so nice it makes it a pleasure to say this is my home now.

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Making trips back to Loyal every week is just a lot of enjoyment. I kind of have my route laid out before I get there. I swing through the cemetery to make sure Florence’s grave is looking nice. I guess I can thank Jackie, my grandchildren, great grandchildren and even one of the little kids, great granddaughter Savanna, takes care of that.

Next it is heading south on K so I can go by the Dennis and Suzie Roehl Farm. This past week it was nice to see how Northside Elevator has made flower beds at their storage bins just across the road from the next temporary road into the Farm Technology Days grounds.

Then I swing over to Miller Avenue and that is where the action is taking place. A power line has been installed into what I would suspect will be Tent City. Then there are crews putting in lots of stakes, which I assume for site stakes for exhibitors. I’m anxious to get back this week as it appears someone might be putting up some sort of a structure which would be one of the exhibitors. A crew of lawn mowers were busy keeping the grounds mowed to lawn-like perfection.

On the way back to town I’ll continue up Miller Avenue where a news media event was being held at Rustic Occasions the week before. It is fantastic how the Erlin Roehl farm, thanks to Doug and Kim, have converted an old barn into such a show place. I think it would have been at a June Dairy Month Breakfast out there a few years ago when we got to see what was being done. At the time I thought to myself, this is not just an old barn, it is an example of a craftmanship and the Loyal community can be proud of it.

Then it is back to town, stops at the bank, post office and Kwik Trip for gas if I need it and last but not the least, the real reason I’m in town. A stop at Schecky’s Snack Shack for a Christmas treat from last December. If the timing is correct I may run out of funds, but I can always spend my own money for my milkshake.

Then it is a swing by 404 E. First Street and check out Savanna’s goose and flowers and then I can head back north.

The trip ends by heading back to my room carrying the leftover shake to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

Then I await Father’s Day weekend which may turn into a couple of day event like my birthday last month. I’m sure my kids enjoy having a Dad around who they can spoil with cards, gifts and good deeds. Bless them all.