Dedication of Borlaug barn

CRESCO - Check!

One more item has been checked off the list of things to do at the Norman Borlaug farm complex. 

The barn at the birth home, which is just southeast of the boyhood home, is finished and is being dedicated during (what else?) Norman Borlaug Harvest Fest.

All weekend there are different activities taking place, but the highlight will occur at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22, when the dedication ceremony is scheduled. 

Special guest for the event is Borlaug’s daughter, Jeanie Borlaug-Laube of Texas. Other speakers are president of the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation (NBHF), Laura Schmauss, a representative from the Iowa Barn Association and CUSB Bank president, Scott Thomson.

Other activities for the weekend include:

Saturday, Sept. 22

• 8 a.m.-8 p.m. — Birthplace barn open

• 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. — Tours available

• 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. — Horse wagon rides and draft horse field demonstrations

• 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. — Sopha Sisters performing (with 10 minute breaks)

• 11 a.m.-11:45 a.m. — Dedication ceremony with speakers

• Lunch by Lynch’s will be available for a fee following the dedication.

 Sunday, Sept. 23

• 8 a.m.-8 p.m. — Birthplace barn open

• 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. — Tours available

 

NBHF

Since 2000, NBHF has been working to preserve the two homesteads of the future Nobel Peace Prize winner. For many of those years, the boyhood home was the focus. The house and barn were renovated to show how they were when Borlaug was a boy. The barn contains some of the original stanchions, with the cow’s name penciled into the wood.

In addition, the one-room school the Borlaug family attended was moved to the property. It was set up as original as possible for a school of Borlaug’s era.

In the past few years, an interpretive trail was installed that connects the two houses.

Schmauss, who has been president since 2015, noted, “The board has been talking about the longevity of the barn for a while and decided it needed to be done. Once we made the commitment to preserve the barn, we needed funding.”

The Iowa Barn Foundation, which has been around for 20 years, was instrumental in providing a grant to the NBHF, with matching funds. “We were the first non-profit recipient of the grant,” Schmauss said. “Once we received the grant, we needed to get donations for the match.” 

The entire project was over $100,000. Fund-raising began in early 2017, with the work taking place that summer.

Jirak Construction of Waucoma did all the work, which included stripping the barn to the beams and rebuilding. The reconstruction was finished this spring. It included restoring the cupola.

“The board envisions this as Phase One. Down the road, Phase Two will be to turn the barn into a visitor and educational center. Every spring and fall, we have hundreds of kids come to visit the farm for Inspire Day.” The barn will be a great place to use for that and other tours.

Another future project is restoring the birthplace house.

It is sad, but many locals never visit points of interest in their own back yards. If you haven’t visited the Borlaug complex in the past few years, or have never visited it, now is the time to do it! 

Be part of history by attending the dedication of the 1915 barn on Saturday at 11 a.m. Then visit the same spot  “the father of the Green Revolution” worked and played.