Posted: 1/24/06
Local living history farm taking shape
About the living history farm Southeastern Minnesota Living History Farm (SMLHF) is a non-profit educational organization based at the Jim and Suzanna Gulbranson family farm. It is located two miles south of Spring Grove in section 23 of Spring Grove Township. SMLHF is operated as a separate organization from Gulbransonsí Stratford-Lee Inn. It has an 11-member board of directors consisting of James Gulbranson (president), Spring Grove; Steven Harmon (vice president), Spring Grove; Donna Trehus (treasurer), Spring Grove; Robert Vogel (secretary), Spring Grove; Peter Connor, Owatonna; Kim Fordhal, Hokah; Susanna Gulbranson, Spring Grove; Anthony Gulbranson, Spring Grove; and Tim Pattrin, Freeburg. The farm has two core programs: ï Stratford Farm, a living history farm and open air museum. It will offer experiential workshops and presentations by guest artists and lecturers, with SMLHF staff performing traditional farm work and trades. ï Stratford Institute, an education center offering heritage preservation programs focused on the teaching of traditional crafts and building trade skills. The Institute will specialize in customized training and hands-on instruction in carpentry, masonry, cabinet making, and other traditional building skills. Farm staff will also offer tours, themed dinners, lectures, exhibitions, and classroom presentations on local history, culture, and preservation. For more information, write to them at 19315 Stratford Drive, Spring Grove, Minnesota 55974; call 507-498-5707; or visit their web site at www.stratfordinstitute.org. |
Gulbransons, others have grand visions for Spring Grove project
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
The table in the old log house was covered with tools on January 18.
There was a broad ax, a debarking spud, a draw knife, an adz, a felling ax, and a chisel-like tool for mortise and tenon work.
ìA slicker,î Jim Gulbranson said after a minute of thought. Thatís what that last tool is called, he said.
Gulbranson knows things like that, and he knows how to use them. He wants to see them come to life again.
The log building that he and two other men were showing me is the start of a very ambitious project called the Southeastern Minnesota Living History Farm (SMLHF).
It is located on the Gulbranson farm two miles south of Spring Grove in section 23 of Spring Grove Township.
Gulbranson, 56, and two other SMLHF board members, Steve Harmon and Robert Vogel, talked about it that chilly Wednesday morning.
They pointed out where things would be on the 20 acre parcel. That pile of limestone rocks to the south of the log house will be reconstructed into a 34-by-56-foot blacksmith shop. It will be shaped similar to its first incarnation as the Eitzen stone barn, from whence it came in 27 truckloads.
West of that will be a huge post and beam barn, the biggest building on the site. Gulbranson can see it having porches so people can stand there and watch events.
There will be a carriage shop and wood shop side by side. And a cobblerís shop, a cooperís shop, and weaverís shop, and other smaller log cabins, and how about a bridge over there leading to springs and ponds to the east. Jim Gulbranson could almost see it.
There is room for 20 buildings, Vogel said, but the exact number is fluid.
Fluid is a word that perhaps describes the entire plan. It will take a lot of money and time, and no one really knows exactly what the end result will be. The goals and programs are spelled out in a sidebar that accompanies this story.
Gulbranson described it as wanting to see history come alive. He would like to see the keen edges of the tools in the log house put to use. He wants to have hands-on classes to teach skills like log home building, weaving, and horse work. Artisans and crafts people would live there temporarily and teach a class or two.
Gulbranson can imagine people walking around, watching artists at work. ìKids could see history being relived again,î he said.
He hopes a store that he has already built on the property will be stocked with items made on site.
ìIíve got these visions. Iíve got so many visions,î Gulbranson said. Itís a vision heís had for about 30 years. It took three trips to the Spring Grove Economic Development Authority, but Gulbranson has now found some people that share the vision. The EDA provided a grant of $35,000 for the project.
The momentum is small right now, but itís something to start with, board member Steve Harmon added.
Some people think the location isnít ideal, Gulbranson said. But others have told him that being an hour away from the freeway is perfect. He thinks his site is ideal, a small area near a small town.
Vogel estimated $2-3 million and 4-5 years will be required to complete the living history farm.
ìItís a good-sized project,î Gulbranson said, showing a flair for the fine art of Minnesota understatement.
The board is presently finishing its initial business plan. The McKnight Foundationís Economic Development arm in Owatonna has helped, Vogel said.
He estimated it would take $25,000-$30,000 annually to operate SMLHF. Ultimately an endowment will fund it, Vogel hopes. He thinks money can be raised by asking people and bringing them to the site. ìBring the money people here and they can make their decision,î he said.
Like Gulbranson, Vogel has had visions of doing something like this. But this is the first time all the components to make it possible are in place, he said: land, buildings, and skills. ìThereís probably one or two things this guy canít build,î he said with a nod toward Gulbranson.
The Gulbransonsí house will be a central part of the living history farm too, because events can be held in it. It took Jim three years and 33,000 bricks to build the huge, three story home. He was milking 80 cows and renting 1,000 acres of farmland at the time. Thatís the kind of energy that Gulbranson has, and itís what people like harmon and Vogel are banking on.
Vogel said that the Gulbransons ñ Jim with his building skills, Suzanne with her cooking skills, and son Anthony with his horse and woodworking skills ñ are key to the living farmís success.
Jim and his family are for real, and the board knows what it is getting into, Vogel feels.
ìThis is a very viable program, because it doesnít require us to do anything except raise money,î Vogel added. ìThis is just a matter of getting things moving fast enough so other people can participate.î
Vogel and Harmon see momentum growing. They cite things like moving in the log house, finishing the inside of the store, and building two sleighs for sleigh rides. Some public events around Christmas were successful too, and brought in people from Decorah and Caledonia to Lanesboro and the Twin Cities.
They also feel the farm will help the local economy by bringing in visitors and employing people.
Caledonia Argus
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