Tell us about your family.Vicky: We live on a 5th generation dairy farm near St. Rosa MN. We in many ways are a normal typical family, but in other ways are atypical and much different. My husband Tom is the solid rock and foundation of our farm. Tom, providing solid leadership and day to day hours of work along with support for our children Collin (17 at the end of Jan 2025), Elaine (14) and Evelyn (10). We also have some part time hired help. Vicky works full time off the farm at Stearns Electric Association as the VP of Administration and Finance. This non-profit electric co-op provides electricity to homes, farms and businesses in Central MN – over 29,000 to be exact. I get to work alongside some extremely talented employees who care about our members. It is especially fun when I get to talk with members who remember when electricity was first brought to their farm and hear them explain how it changed their lives. Members always want to hear about our farm and how I balance the farm and a working career. As for our children, Collin is a non-traditional student doing online school. He has been doing online school for two years and he absolutely loves it. Online school is not for everyone, but for him it works. Now to be clear, we have elected to hire someone to come into our home twice a week to be available to Collin to ask question and confirm and double check that he is learning and comprehending what is needed (I do this too as a parent, but I have another set of eyes watching too.) I’m not sure all students need this, but as parents you know your child and when we decided to go online with him we knew this would be needed because both Tom and I work full time with our job and we did not want to sacrifice other areas of our lives by him going to online school. Collin does not do any sports through online school by choice – he does not have a competitive bone in his body. (nor does his dad). With his online school he does have some live classes each week, so he knows his teacher and his classmates, but also has his independent studies. Elaine is quiet but always listens and one heck of a hard worker. She is a 9th grader at Melrose high school and involved in swimming, FFA and softball. She loves one on one time, her horse and country music. Evelyn is our spit and life of the party child. She is a 5th grader at Melrose Elementary School and loves school and her friends. She is involved in swimming, basketball and softball. She is very competitive, simply loves to be around people and also loves country music. Between Evelyn and Elaine they know so many country songs. Collin, Elaine and Evelyn together have their own small herd of red angus beef animals. They have taken some of their earnings from the farm and invested in red angus. Collin is the watcher of the markets and tends to them. This year, Elaine used her red angus as part of her FFA SAE project. How did you meet?Tom: We met in high school. Vicky: We started dating when I was a junior and he was a senior. Funniest kid story?Tom: Since Evelyn was about 5 years old, she has been daddy’s little girl and I can’t deny it. Evelyn will tell me, “Dad I’m not going to let you go to the old folk’s home (nursing home), I am going to let you live with me, I will take care of you. Oh, mom can live there too!” Vicky: As mentioned earlier, Evelyn is our wild child. Evelyn likes to hang out with Collin, so they went fishing at the local peer. When they came back home, Evelyn was all wet (head to toe) and missing a shoe. Evelyn had been so busy talking and telling jokes that she fell in and lost her shoe in the lake. Collin just shook his head and said that he can’t take her anywhere without her causing a ruckus. Best advice for parents?Tom: Spend time with your kids and include them in what you do. They learn from you. What do you hope for your children?Tom: That they are respectable and good people. What do you hope for your family?Tom: That they understand the value of helping those in need with the understanding of no repayment. Also the value of visiting those that are elderly and lonely. A simple conversation can mean so much to these people. What does your family do for fun?Tom: We go to the lake, we go out to eat, we enjoy watching our kids in sports, etc. How do you balance work and personal life?Tom: I try to get my work done when Vicky is at work and the kids are at school so I can be present when they are around. Did you always know you wanted to be a dad?Tom: Yes. Advice for a new dad?Tom: Spend time with them – take them to town, be with them, show them how to do things. Did you always know you wanted to be a mom?Vicky: I did. We got married in our early 20’s which for today is society is young, but we also were dating since we were in high school. Best advice you’ve received?Vicky: My mom’s mother was a Wieber from the Farming MN where they dairy farmed for many years until they retired in Richmond. Helen would say that you need to keep life simple and that bigger is not always better. I think we can all relate to this comment of keeping life simple. Do you have family traditions?Tom: I grew up with these traditions – We always had a sit down meal together for all of our meals. Lunch was always at noon and supper was right after school and before bed we had a bowl of ice cream. Vicky: Christmas, we go to church together, exchange names, have a nice meal together and always take a Christmas card picture.
