Band for the Barn draws more than 150

By the end of the evening, about 150 people had come to enjoy “Band for the Barn,” a Farmamerica event calling attention to about $90,000 of work needed to put new siding on the classic red barn located at the interpretive center’s site representing the 1930s.

 

The five-member Gold Star Band entertained the 18+ crowd with familiar tunes, inviting couples to the dance floor or to sing along. Originally intended to be outdoors, the live music had been moved into the interpretive center’s ballroom area due to the extreme heat and humidity. Those who had brought lawn chairs in expectation of being outdoors were invited to bring them inside if they wished.

 

Most chose to brave the heat for at least a short time so they could visit the outdoor vendors, among whom were Kelm’s BBQ, Bar Next Door, Udder Buddies, and Mama’s Mercantile. Barnyard Treasures had some items on display indoors. Trams offered rides to the 1930s site, and the corn maze called to people looking to lose themselves in agriculture.

 

Executive director Jessica Rollins shared that fundraising to put new siding on the barn has been underway since last fall; “Band for the Barn” brought in about $2,700, bringing the current total toward the project to about $10,000. The need for repairs is more than cosmetic, she goes on. As the board and batten siding ages and begins to fail, nails are falling out, and some boards have actually fallen.

 

Many visitors come and go from the barn each year, and numerous animals are kept inside it. The safety and longevity steel siding would bring, says Rollins, as well as the improved appearance, are all powerful reasons why Farmamerica would like to see the upgrade.

 

“Dairy barns like ours were the heart of rural life in the early- to mid-1900s,” Rollins pointed out. “They were places of labor, steadfast routines and enduring family enterprise.”

 

Calling the classic hip-roofed barn a “bridge connecting generations,” Rollins notes the building has been at Farmamerica for nearly 50 years, having been moved to the site from the Ballard Dairy Farm south of Mankato in the 1980s. She also mentions that structures of its type are no longer being built, with modern dairy barns looking very different and meeting much different standards of production and food safety.

 

Despite the changes, though, she points out barns like the one at Farmamerica remain an enduring icon of agriculture. Just as there was a time when no farm was complete without a barn, Rollins suggests, Farmamerica would not seem complete without one today.