Mrs. Dean’s Heritage in a Rural Community

Written by: Mrs. Dean

Harvest Time in a Rural Community

The combine is harvesting the corn.

The corn goes from the combine to the wagon.

The tractor pulls the wagon full of corn home, and the corn is put in a grain bin using a tall auger. The corn dries in the bin. If the corn is

too wet, it will mold.

Winter on the farm can be really fun, too!

Rural areas are so pretty and green in the spring.

In the summer, the vegetable garden and sweet corn patch provide food for the entire year. Nana works in her garden

all summer long.

It is a lot of hard work to harvest the sweet corn, but it is so yummy!

The County Fair is always a highlight in a rural community. Mrs. Dean’s parents enter eggs and corn silage every year and

just about always win 1st Place!

People in rural communities have many skills and know how to do, build, and fix many things. It is important for farmers to

teach the next generation the art of farming.

Rural communities have animals. Some animals are sold for profit and some are just to love.

Riding the skid-loader with Nana, and playing with kittens is always fun, too!

Living in a rural community is a lot of fun with bonfires with cousins, and Caleb likes to work with Papa using his own

John Deere.

People who live in rural communities like to have fun outdoors riding horses and four wheelers.

The closest town where I grew up is Milledgeville, IL. It is very small.

• Downtown – The town is in decline and now there isn’t even a grocery store. Among a few other things, it does have a bank, post office, and a bridal shop where I bought my wedding dress.

• I went to school in this building from Kindergarten through high school with the exception of 8th grade. My grandpa, mom, dad, brothers, aunts, uncles and most of my cousins went to school here too. My graduating class had only 49 students and that was with two communities combined.

The best part about going home to my rural community is…

MY FAMILY! My parents don’t have the softest hands

nor do they have perfectly manicured nails. Their hands are rough and callused from a lot of hard work. I love to look at

my parents’ hands because it was through those strong, rough hands, they taught me the importance of working hard and doing my best. With those same rough hands, they showed me such soft, tender, gentle

love. I am so blessed.