Little Ridge Dairy near Ontario, WI, hosted the 35th Vernon County June Dairy Month Breakfast on the Eirik and Cheryl Eness family farm on Saturday, June 20. The Vernon County, Wisconsin, Dairy Promotion Committee asked the Eness family to host this year's breakfast on what was, until 1963, the Samuelson dairy farm. Orion Samuelson (WGN Radio, Chicago, IL) was invited to attend and speak to the guests. Despite a light rain for the first two hours, 2,500 people showed up to see a modern dairy farm operation and enjoy a good farm breakfast, including ice cream. Orion said he was no stranger to inclement weather since there was a blizzard the day he was born that left 14 inches of snow on the ground. The doctor never made it to the farm in time for his birth and his aunt saved the day serving as a midwife. Orion said, “For me and my sister, Norma (Samuelson) Haakenstad, it was a trip down memory lane because we were both born in a bedroom in the farm house, March 31, 1934, for me and May 24, 1939, for her. The house has been totally remodeled, but the barn that I helped my Dad build in 1948 still looks the same.” Orion sits behind the wheel of a Farmall F-20 tractor (photo taken at another event) that his Dad bought in 1939. It was rescued from a farm equipment graveyard without an engine or wheels and has since been restored by an Illinois tractor club. The restored tractor was on display at the dairy breakfast for everyone to enjoy. When speaking to those attending breakfast (including Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture Ben Brancel), Orion recalled his own years growing up on the farm from his love for the land to his dislike of the family’s team of work horses, Buster and Blackey. He was grateful when horsepower was replaced with diesel. Among his best memories on the farm were during threshing days and silo filling, when 14-plus neighbors would all share the load and work as one to get everyone’s crops harvested and stored before winter. He said the biggest change for the Samuelson family came on April 11, 1947, when the days of oil lanterns ended and electricity came to their farm. His childhood memories combined with his decades of success as a broadcaster led Orion to write his book, You Can’t Dream Big Enough. Despite the rainy weather, old acquaintances from his younger days growing up in Wisconsin made their way to the Eness farm to reconnect with their childhood friend, whose memory of life on the farm is intact even if he left the homestead decades ago. Before he celebrates his 55th year on the air at WGN Radio on September 26, Orion has a busy summer schedule. On August 5, he will be at Farm Fest in Redwood Falls, MN, appearing on the Linder Farm Network with Lynn Ketelsen. On August 18, he will emcee the Grand Champion Livestock Auction at the Illinois State Fair, which he’s done for more than 40 years. On September 1-3, Orion and Max Armstrong will appear at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, IL.
