The skies cleared and the sun shone over events at the Reese farm on September 12th. Old-time oat threshing, straw baling, corn picking and plowing took place during an afternoon celebration of Donald Reese’s 100th birthday.
The farm, located on 390th Street in Goodhue Township, has been in the Reese family for over 100 years. Don’s grandparents lived there when Don was young. He and Lila, now married for more than 74 years, moved into a trailer there as newlyweds. They first moved into the upstairs of the early 1900’s home between the births of their first two children. After 11 years and 7 children, they moved to their farm on County Road 4 where their youngest child was born. 23 Years later their oldest child took over that farm and Don and Lila moved back to the old homestead for 38 years. Lanny Reese, one of their 29 grandchildren, currently resides on the farm.
The couple looked forward to the birthday celebration which brought them back to the farm for the first time since moving to Goodhue Living in July 2024. They spent the afternoon surrounded by friends and family. All eight of their children attended the event. The five girls, Kathy, Diane, Sue, Cindy and Jodi, each wore a different colored T-shirt printed with, “Raised on Love and Hard Work: A Farmer’s Daughter”. Sons, David, Dale and Danny and other relatives made sure the day’s events ran as smoothly as possible.
Working with old farm equipment was not without challenges and a few delays, but every part of the process was accomplished. Threshing the grain, which had been cut and bundled earlier in the summer, remains the dusty and labor-intensive process it was decades ago. Many volunteers worked to operate the equipment, feed the bundles into the thresher, then move the straw through the baler and tie the bales. “It’s the only way it works,” Don said of the large crew required to get the job done.
In addition to threshing, family members ran other antique equipment on an adjacent field. A bit of corn was chopped with a Gehl self-propelled Chop-All Harvester purchased by Don in 1959. Grandson, Lanny then picked more corn with a John Deere tractor and 237 2-row picker attachment. Once the edge of the field was opened, grandson, Jason Reese ran another John Deere tractor with a 3-bottom moldboard plow and Danny used his Aultman-Taylor 30-60 tractor to pull a 3-bottom and 5-bottom plow in tandem.
The social event was open to the public and drew many neighbors and community members of all ages. Guests moved freely between the time-honored procedures and the many tractors and implements on display. A picnic-style lunch was provided by granddaughter and owner of the Corner Bar, Tracy Reese. She summed up the event with a Facebook post saying, “Seeing grandpa’s face in awe that it was all for him was priceless”.
A lunch with a cake depicting a farm scene as its centerpiece, highlighted a second public celebration held in the community room at Goodhue Living the following day. The family gathered again on September 15th, Don’s actual birthday, for a military recognition program.
