Miss Muffet got in on the action!
We held our official groundbreaking ceremony this past Saturday so we could include as much family as possible, as it was in conjunction with Dan’s Grandpa Pete’s 80th birthday! We had grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins from every generation join us! Although cloudy and windy (really, it’s almost always windy on our hill), the rain stayed away and it wasn’t too muddy!
Dan’s dad, Dave, kicked off the ceremony by noting that he hadn’t ridden up the “dead road”, now our driveway/lane in a car since he was a little boy with his grandpa. It’s been dead a long time! After welcoming everyone he handed the megaphone (the electricity hasn’t made it yet) to his dad, Neil, to share a bit of history.
Dan’s grandpa Neil shared that after Dan’s great-grandpa had rented the land that we’re building on for a few years, the owners eventually asked if he would consider purchasing it. Great-Grandpa Adlai purchased all 40 acres for only $2000 and paid it off in only 2 years with the crops he grew on it – times have certainly changed! Although the 40 acres we’re building on isn’t part of the originally Bolin farm, it’s been in the family for quite awhile and is adjacent to the original farm. Grandpa Neil also mentioned that the 40 acres that the building site is on was some of the first land in our county to be contour farmed, the practice of tilling sloped land along lines of consistent elevation in order to conserve rainwater and to reduce soil losses from surface erosion. Apparently our family has always been early adopters of new practices.
Dan was up next on the program. He shared that although he’s been and lived around the world he’s confident that this is the place we are to actually “do” dairying for the coming years. We also picked a theme scripture for the farm that he shared, Lamentations 3:21-27.
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
Then it was time for the big countdown to groundbreaking, which our family crowd helped us with. As you can see, we had some fun! Those digging dirt were myself (Lynn), Dan’s dad, Dave, Dan’s two grandpas – Neil & Pete, and Dan. Although we may be spearheading this big project, these men (and their wives!) have been and are very important to the dairy farm! It is just as much their project as it is our project!
To wrap up the ceremony after digging some dirt Grandpa Pete shared that a good friend’s wife once told him, “Pete, you’re not smart enough to ever have been as successful as you are in farming, but for the Good Lord’s help.” Pete agreed that God’s been good to him over the years and he couldn’t have made it without God in all that he did. He noted that our new dairy farm won’t make it unless God is part of everything we do, which we hopefully He is! (Grandpa Pete is actually one of the wisest men we know, but we do agree that we need God’s help no matter how smart we are!)
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” This is our prayer in all that we do: not that we get the glory, but that God’s name would be made Great through all we do!
and we appreciate your prayers as well!
Dan especially appreciated that he shared Psalm 115:1, which was in the running for verses he wanted to pick as New Day Dairy’s theme verse.
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” This is our prayer in all that we do: not that we get the glory, but that God’s name would be made Great through all we do!
To finish
off the ceremony, Grandpa Pete prayed for the dairy farm and building processand we appreciate your prayers as well!
A moment of prayer
To commemorate groundbreaking we had everyone in attendance sign a shovel. We plan to use this so we can look back on this day and the start of New Day Dairy and be reminded that we have an amazing family around us that are cheering us on!
Did you notice that these are some great pictures? That’s because Dan’s cousin, Morgan, and her husband, Josh, took them for us and they do photos & videos… check Chitwood Media out!
And thanks to everyone who shared and liked our Facebook page, we made it to 200 likes, which means we’ll be having a Name That Calf contest coming up on Facebook next Wednesday, so look for it! And be thinking of names that begin with W, Z, and V as those are the cows or heifers who will be having calves soon!
