This week’s article about cooperative farming/ranching frameworks reminded us that helping each other and working together is in our blood. None of us would have made it without our clan.
In the late 1800s Kathy’s great-grandpa Voth came from the Ukraine to Newton, Kansas, a young boy arriving at a train station with nothing but a few coins in his pocket. He was there because other members of his Mennonite Community had left the Ukraine earlier and headed to Kansas and Nebraska to scout out the best place for everyone to relocate. They found their version of an ideal spot, and wrote back to the others saying “Come on over!” Those already in the U.S. covered the fares of those who couldn’t afford to pay their own way. The loans and payments were carefully noted in the community ledger, just one of the cooperative mechanisms they’d set up to make sure things were as fair as possible. Ultimately, together they thrived, maybe some more than others, but they all made it because they were all in it together.
In the early 1900s, Rachel’s great-grandmother immigrated to the United States. She made a place for her sister to join her, only a little put out that her sibling had neglected to mention the extra bundle she’d been incubating on the ocean journey. Thus Rachel’s grandmother and great aunt were born in the same bed, months apart.They were an example of some of the uncomfortable times we have together. The younger tormented her older sister by always reminding people she was younger. The older retaliated by inflating her age saying, “Yes, she’s two years younger than me and I’m 85” when she was really only 75. Once,when they were on the outs, Rachel’s great-grandmother brought her own hot dog meal with her to a dinner at her sister’s where she was to meet her future niece-in-law. She wasn’t going to miss meeting the bride-to-be, but she was darned if she’d eat her sister’s cooking while they were at odds.
Cooperating is great for getting things done, and it also comes with some rough edges. We’re not always happy with all the members of our community. We’re guessing you might not always like everything we publish at On Pasture. We work hard to find interesting things that are useful to you, and sometimes that means that you might disagree. We read your comments and emails, and we use them to build future issues of On Pasture. And we tell you what’s going on behind those pixels on your screen here in The Scoop. We’re glad you are here, and we are glad to be part of this community with you.
As we grow, (22,000 readers now!) we’re welcoming underwriters to On Pasture. Underwriters are organizations, associations, and companies that believe in what we are doing and want to support us. We’ll be sharing their names with you as they arrive. If you know of a group or company that might belong in the On Pasture community, please let us know (or let them know!). We’re all in this together.
