It’s not every day that a man worth $60 billion sits down at your dinner table. But that is what happened to the Gant family in rural Blanchardville on Sunday, April 29.
As daughter Ashley explained, her boyfriend’s brother, Jeremy, and his children, who are from Silicon Valley, Calif., recently visited the farm during their spring break. He wanted his kids to experience the farm life. After Jeremy posted his photos from the farm on Facebook, his close friend Derek, who just so happens to work for Mark Zuckerberg, saw them and both Jeremy and Derek got in contact with Ashley to see if it would be possible for Zuckerberg to visit the farm on his cross-country tour he is on.
“I thought they were yanking my chain. But it was an amazing experience. We were so honored to have him on the farm,” Ashley commented about Zuckerberg’s visit.
Jed and Rona Gant remember him being a very genuine human being and a wonderful person.
“He wanted to come to a real life working farm and see a walk of life that he isn’t accustomed to,” Jed added.
When on the farm, Zuckerberg talked to the family about the farm life and about the food that was prepared by Jed’s mother, Norma.
The Gant’s run a beef and dairy farm on a five-generation farm. Zuckerberg was able to drive a tractor that has been driven by three of those generations. He fed a calf for the first time and the Gant’s said he was welcome back anytime and was invited back to attend son, Austin and fiancé Kelsey’s wedding in two weeks.
“He signed our wedding guest book and left a nice message. It was very neat. It was something I will always treasure,” Austin remembered.
“It’s important that a man of that stature wants to come and learn about this because agriculture is still key in America,” Jed said.
The Gant’s sent Zuckerberg home with seven different kinds of cheeses and steaks and lots of memories from the family farm.
“It was a great experience. We have had so many good responses on Facebook. It was rewarding to have someone look at our way of life through fresh eyes,” Rona stated.
Zuckerberg has pledged to visit all 50 states in 2017 as a bucket list for this year.