6/2/2010 – News

Farm Rescue is composed of volunteers who donate their time in helping farmers who need help in the spring and fall. The equipment is donated by machinery dealers. RDO, for instance, donates the biggest tractor John Deere makes to pull a huge air seeder.

Last week Farm Rescue made its first appearance in Benson County when it planted 200 acres of wheat and 200 acres of soybeans for Ken and Diane Streifel of Esmond.

Ken, 53, got sick the first week of May and after a couple days he went to the doctor. The doctor suspected gall bladder trouble and told him to come back Friday for another test. However, he was told by nurses that the test couldn’t be conducted on Friday, so he would have to wait until Monday.

In the meantime the pain became so severe, he decided to go to Bismarck on Monday. The doctor there told him there would have to be an operation. Streifel said he would go home and try to arrange for someone to take care of his cattle and try to hire someone to put in his crop.

He had his drill ready to go.

The doctor vetoed that immediately. "We have to operate today," he said.

Sure enough, Ken went under the knife at 9:30 p.m. to remove his gall bladder, along with gallstones.

Neighbor Joe Binfet, who lives half a mile north of the Streifels, took care of the cattle.

James Arnold came over and planted 100 acres free of charge and planted another 150 acres he was paid for.

Raymond Tollerud was planting Streifel’s land the day Farm Rescue arrived. Tollerud hasn’t seeded his own land yet.

Kenny Bachmeier and his son Kevin prepared land the Streifels own near the Bachmeier farm southwest of Esmond. Farm Rescue planted that Friday.

Also helping when she’s not watching her children, Alexa 6, and Ava, 4, is daughter Amy Haldorson of Harvey.

Streifel knew about Farm Rescue and applied for its help. He was accepted and the big tractor and air seeder were driven from Newburg (north of Minot), where they planted 640 acres of canola for a farmer who is undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer. The trip from Newburg to Esmond was about 100 miles.

When Farm Rescue finished on Friday, the Streifels had only about 20 acres left to plant from the total of 1500 acres. Ken figures his son, Scott Streifel, a Bismarck teacher, will get that planted this weekend.

Diane Streifel has been helping, too. She drives the truck to get seed and did a lot of the cultivating this spring. That is, she did it in her "spare time" when she wasn’t on her rural mail route out of Esmond or running the Esmond Cafe, which she leases from the Esmond Community Development Corporation. She also has the job of being mother to daughter Katie, a high school freshman at Harvey.

Ken’s parents, Arthur and Agnes Streifel haven’t been sitting on the sidelines, either. Art has been the "gofer" on the farm and Agnes has been filling in at the cafe.

Ken says the hardest part of his illness is being laid up for three weeks. "It’s hard to look out the window and not be able to do something. It almost drives me coo-coo." He still has considerable pain and takes pain pills and other medications. He’s also diabetic.

He started farming on his own in 1976. They milked cows for 20 years and now have only beef cattle. They also have 14 cats, which the grandchildren enjoy immensely.

Farm Rescue plans to plant for 20 farmers this spring and harvest for 10 this fall. This is the fifth year of operation and Farm Rescue’s appearance in Benson County is its 116th case since inception of the organization.

Volunteers present on Thursday to plant 200 acres of wheat were founder Bill Gross of Cleveland, Bruce Radloff of New York and Randy Weaver of Kentucky.

Volunteers present on Friday to plant 200 acres of soybeans were Gross, Bill Krumwiede of Voltaire and Warren Zakopyko of Balfour. Their next volunteer planting was scheduled near McClusky.

Oh, yes, a footnote. This isn’t the first time Ken Streifel has been laid up for spring’s work. In 2002 a viral infection attacked his heart, swelling it much larger than normal. He has no idea how he got the infection. He spent 10 days at St. Alexius in Bismarck where they drained off 33 lbs. of fluids around his heart. "Boy, I felt a lot better when they got that fluid out," he says. "But they were talking heart transplant and that scared me."

The Bismarck doctors were not certain they could handle his case, so he was sent to a hospital in Minneapolis where he spent a week.

He was given antibiotics and lots of pills and by golly his heart began to heal itself. The virus was killed and the enlargement of his heart abated enough so he could go home.

"I had to go back every year for three years and the last time I was there they said my heart was just fine. I didn’t have to come back any more," he said with relief.

That time Joe Binfet again came to the rescue to help with the cattle. A friend from up north put in the crop with the help of Art Streifel.

Neighbors fixed the fences.

This is the second time it has been proven that Ken and Diane have lots of friends and they’re truly grateful for their help.

Left to right are Diane Streifel, Bill Gross and Ken Streifel in front of the Farm Resuce pickup driven by Gross, the founder of Farm Rescue.

The organization helps farmers who have medical conditions get their crops in the ground in the spring. Ken Streifel is laid up following gall bladder surgery. Farm Rescue planted 400 acres of crops free of charge for the Streifels, who farm near Esmond.

This huge tractor and the air drill it pulls can cover a lot of ground in one day. The equipment was donated to FarmRescue by RDO, the largest farm implement dealer in North Dakota.

Gay Leapaldt, Morgan’s mom and Leeds school board member, was there with a big hug to go along with that diploma.

"My mom will be the one to hand me my diploma. We are very close, and I’m sure we will both be crying," Morgan said before the graduation.

It’s no wonder mom and daughter are so close. They’ve been through a lot together. In fact, Morgan says she has a very tight-knit family, along with her dad, Bryan, and older brother, Derrek.

When Morgan was just seven months old she was hospitalized after contracting salmonella poisoning from her brother’s pet turtle. The high fever and other complications associated with the illness caused her to go completely deaf.

At the age of three, she began attending the North Dakota School for the Deaf in Devils Lake and continued there through eighth grade.

In 2004, she underwent a cochlear implant on the left side and, in 2006, the right. The cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound through electrical stimulation in the auditory system.

"The implants made a huge improvement," Morgan explained. "I can hear almost everything and I can also hear myself talk which made a big difference."

She enrolled in Leeds High School as a freshman. At the school for the deaf, Morgan was the only student in her class. She wanted more opportunity to be challenged academically and to be able to socialize with kids her own age.

Morgan has had the assistance of her sign language interpreter, Cindy Mead of Devils Lake, throughout her high school years. Mead spent pretty much every day with Morgan, helping primarily with math, English and science classes. Otherwise, Morgan is able to listen to her teachers and read lips during many of her other classes.

She will certainly miss seeing Cindy every day. "She’s part of my life,"

Morgan said. "I’m really grateful for her. She’s helped me be successful. She’s like my second mom."

Looking at Morgan’s list of activities and accomplishments throughout her time at Leeds High School, one would never even suspect she had any trouble overcoming her disability.

During her high school years, she’s been involved in FCCLA, FFA, National Honor Society, annual staff, math club and science club.

She credits her family, the kind people in the community, her classmates, and, of course, her daily companion, Cindy, for helping her to achieve.

She, along with her eight classmates, graduated Sunday, May 23. Morgan was co-valedictorian and one of the featured speakers during the ceremony.

Morgan’s commencement speech focused on the many places she and her classmates will go and the different paths they can take. Morgan spoke from experience in overcoming her own challenging path to success.

After a mother-daughter trip to New York this summer, Morgan gets set to head off to Minnesota State University-Moorhead in the fall. Morgan, the youngest in her family, is both excited and sad when she thinks about leaving home.

She’ll miss socializing with her friends and working at her job at Chad’s Amoco station, where she’s been for about three years.

Morgan will be majoring in fine arts with an emphasis on graphic design and a minor in business.

She enjoys art and has always been good at drawing and working on designs on her computer, so graphic design was a good fit for her.

After college, she plans to stay in North Dakota to remain close to her family. She hopes to one day live in a larger city in the state and maybe even start her own business.

Other graduates at Leeds were Hannah Anderson, Abigail Brossart (salutatorian), Cody Hoffert, Lacey King, Ashley Manley, Brad Nelsen, Brenna Stone (co-valedictorian), and Sadie Vallier.