Santa Experience to help fund update of 1930s barn

From 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12 and 13, Santa will welcome visitors in Farmamerica’s classic hip-roofed red barn, originally constructed in 1913. Those wishing to stop by are asked to register online in advance for specific time slots, so that lines and wait times are shorter. Included for children who speak with Santa is a professionally-taken photograph, the cost for which is being covered by the Katie Gonzalez State Farm insurance agency.

 

Also available to visitors that day is a walk through the 1930s farmhouse, which has been decorated for Christmas. The house was moved to Farmamerica from the Doyle farm near Waldorf. Visitors will find a number of options for warming themselves; numerous farm animals will be on display for visits.

 

Also part of the Santa Experience is a coloring contest. The picture, which appears on page 5 of this edition of the Star Eagle and can also be picked up at Farmamerica, features Santa in flight over a classic barn. Anyone can enter the coloring contest, which has age divisions of 0 to 4; 5 to 8; 9 to 12; and 13 and above. There is no charge to take part. Completed sheets can be mailed to Farmamerica at 7397 360th Avenue, Waseca, or dropped off at the site during the event or during open hours before then.

 

Winners will be notified using email addresses.

 

All of the attention to the barn reveals Farmamerica’s executive director Jess Rollins is strategic. The siding on the building is beginning to deteriorate and thus is due to be replaced; anticipated cost is $90,000. Rollins points out fundraising has already begun, with a “Go Fund Me” page in place and the staff searching for individuals, organizations and grant programs likely to support the cause.

 

A smaller-scale form of support is the option to donate online while registering for Farmamerica events. Those who give $25 or more are eligible to receive a commemorative Christmas ornament.

 

Rollins comments that, when speaking about Minnesota agriculture, barns are still inseparable from people’s concept of a farm. In use until just before it was moved to the site, the barn has been retrofitted with the stalls and stanchions it would have had in the 1930s, when most farms still had dairy cattle, kept horses as draft animals, and likely raised pigs or other animals for meat to be processed and preserved by the family. The giant “hay mow” up above stored fodder for the livestock and often served as something of a playground for children growing up on the farm.

 

“We are glad to be preserving elements of that history,” says Rollins. “We will be grateful for any support people wish to provide.”

 

The hope is to place new siding on the barn sometime in the summer of 2026.