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-Available
April 26-
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Now Available-
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R.D.
Offutt Hiram M. Drache ISBN:
978-0-913163-48-1 |
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Where's
Meriden? Hiram M. Drache ISBN:
978-0-913163-47-4 |
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| This
book is about Ronald D. Offutt, Jr., a farm boy whose father was a
visionary but had difficulty implementing management skills. Fortunately,
he excelled in potato marketing. Ronnie had devout and caring parents
who instilled their son with a positive attitude. Ronnie realized
from an early age that he wanted to be a potato farmer.
He
worked his way through college but, like many other entrepreneurs
and outstanding leaders in society, it never occurred to him that
doing so was supposed to be a handicap. To him it was an opportunity
for a better life. Starting with a negative net worth and without any master plan or vision of creating an agricultural empire, Ronnie, who had great people skills and excelled in developing partnerships, accomplished the story unveiled in the pages of this book. He has realized both success and significance. |
This
history of the Meriden Township took Hiram Drache over 50 years
to complete. Not due to lack of passion or subject matter, but rather
because he did not want to use the typical format where people write
about their families. He wanted a detailed history with substance
Drache had no idea where the story would end, but changing agriculture dictated a new era for rural society. By the 1960s, instead of having a farm service center every eight miles to accommodate horse and wagon, thirty-five minutes (not miles) was suggested to be the ideal distance. The enduring symbol of the Meriden Township is a country side of fertile fields, which resulted in the township consistently being a top producer in the county. With the help of government programs, a core of progressive farmers in the township, and in all townships, inadvertently caused the decline of small town U.S.A. Farming became a commercial enterprise. Small
towns filled a niche when they were needed and today they live on
in nostalgia, in poetry, in stories about the "good old days,"
and in paintings about the rustic past. |
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