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Tour Ben Logans Seldom Seen Farm
Seldom Seen
SELDOM SEEN FARM is the setting of iconic local author Ben Logans book The Land Remembers. The Mississippi Valley Conservancy will lead a guided spring hike at the farm on Saturday, May 20. There is a new edition of Logans book with an introduction by environmental historian and Sauk Prairie resident Curt Meine.

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Local author Ben Logan died in 2014, but his legacy lives on. He left behind his beloved Seldom Seen Farm, which he wrote about in his acclaimed book, ‘The Land Remembers: The Story of a Farm and Its People.’ Both farm and book will be celebrated with an event on Saturday, May 20 near Gays Mills.  The new edition has an introduction by environmental historian and Sauk Prairie resident Curt Meine. 

The Mississippi Valley Conservancy will lead a guided spring hike at Logan’s Seldom Seen Farm, one of the Conservancy’s ‘Seasons in the Coulee Region’ series of outdoor events sponsored by Gundersen Health System. Participants will include people who knew Ben Logan and grew up around the farm, as well as MVC staff who helped Logan create a conservation easement to preserve Seldom Seen as farmland forever.

Hike leaders will conduct an intimate tour of the farm, which is privately owned and normally closed to the public. Its serene ridge top fields offer scenic views of the surrounding Kickapoo River Valley, and its woodlands feature bubbling springs, migratory songbirds and wildflowers. Tour participants will have the chance to ask questions, take photographs, purchase the book, and reflect on Logan’s famous words: “Once you have lived on the land, been a partner with its moods, secrets, and seasons, you cannot leave. The living land remembers, touching you in unguarded moments, saying, ‘I am here. You are a part of me.’”

The occasion for the tour is the release of a new ninth edition of Logan’s book (originally published in 1975), which recollects a boyhood in Wisconsin's Driftless region in the 1920s and '30s. Logan grew up on Seldom Seen Farm with his three brothers, father, mother, and hired hand Lyle—“the fifth Logan boy.”

After being in and out of print with several publishers, ‘The Land Remembers’ will now be published by the University of Wisconsin Press. The Logan heirs presented the rights to the book to the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin.

Carpooling to the Seldom Seen tour is recommended, since parking on the farm is limited.

Directions:

From Gays Mills head south on Highway 131 for approximately 3.5 miles.  Turn right onto County S for 1.8 miles and turn left onto Zintz Road. Continue for about two miles to the driveway (look for MVC signs) on north side of road. 

About MVC

Founded in 1997, Mississippi Valley Conservancy is a nationally accredited regional land trust that has permanently protected more than 18,300 acres of scenic lands in southwestern Wisconsin by working with landowners, businesses and local communities on voluntary conservation projects. The focus of the Conservancy is to conserve the forests, prairies, wetlands, streams and farms that enrich our communities, for the health and wellbeing of current and future generations. For more information: www.mississippivalleyconservancy.org

About UW Press

Founded in 1937, the University of Wisconsin Press is a nonprofit educational publisher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The Press’s mission is to embody and extend the research, education, and outreach mission of the University of Wisconsin through publishing scholarship valued by a worldwide academic and professional community, works that serve the people of Wisconsin and document our region’s heritage, and works that sustain a literate culture and foster an informed and engaged citizenry.

Dairy Royalty candidates announced
Crawford County
Dairy royals
2025 CRAWFORD COUNTY Dairy Royalty candidates include, from left, Ashlin Nolan, Hayven Smethurst, and Layla Brandes. Smethurst is vying to serve as Crawford County Dairy Princess, and Nolan and Brandes for the position of Little Miss Squirt. The coronation banquet will be held on Monday, June 16, at the Eastman United Methodist Fellowship Hall, be-ginning at 6 p.m., with dinner at 7 p.m.

June is National Dairy Month in the United States, and that excitement is building again locally. Coronation of Crawford County Dairy Royalty is coming up in just a few weeks, Soldiers Grove will once again host its traditional June Dairy Days event on Father’s Day weekend, and the Crawford County Dairy Breakfast will be held on the Achenbach Farm in rural Eastman.

 National Dairy Month is a month-long celebration of the dairy industry and its contributions. It's a time to recognize dairy farmers, and the many people involved in producing and distributing dairy products. The celebration also aims to highlight the nutritional benefits of dairy and encourage consumption of dairy products.

Coronation event

This year’s coronation will be held at the first annual Crawford County Coronation Banquet at the Eastman United Methodist Fellowship Hall on Monday, June 16. This first-of-its-kind event, will feature the coronation of the Crawford County Fairest of the Fair and Junior Fairest of the Fair, as well as the Crawford County Dairy Princess and Little Miss Squirt.

The night will kick off at 6 p.m. with a meet the contestants, cheese-and-cracker social. The current royalty will showcase their year with displays and welcome guests. A homemade dinner prepared by the Eastman United Methodist Church will follow at 7 p.m.  The program’s guest speaker will be Melissa Oates, carrying her current title as 2025 Mrs. Badger State for American Royal Beauties.

Dairy Royalty candidates for 2025 include Hayven Smethurst for Dairy Princess, and Ashlin Nolan and Layla Brandes for Little Miss Squirt.

Hayven Smethurst

Hayven is a graduating senior of the Prairie du Chien High School, and the daughter of Chad and Teesha Smethurst of rural Eastman. Her activities include 4-H, FFA, PALS, SHARE, and Student Council. She enjoys showing horses, dairy cattle, rabbits, and pigs. Her work at Payne Rock Acres, Eastman, includes milking cows and calf caretaker, mixing rations, feeding cows and calves, and scraping the barns.

Hayven is currently serving as the 2024-2025 Crawford County Sr. Fair Ambassador and the Captain of the Crawford County Bold Blazers Equestrian Drill Team.  Hayven plans to attend UW-River Falls in the fall, majoring in Animal Science.

Ashlin Nolan

Ashlin Nolan is the 10-year-old daughter of John and Carrie Nolan of Nolan Family Farms in Prairie du Chien. Ashlin is the youngest of eight, and has four brothers and three sisters. She is a 4th grader at Prairie Catholic School. Ashlin has been a member of the Eastman Cloverleaf 4-H Club for six years, and is in 4-H dairy project and shooting sports. Ashlin volunteers at St. Feriole Island Gardens, loves gymnastics, basketball, biking, and paticipates in little league softball.  She likes to help her dad feed calves. The Nolans milk 190 registered Holsteins on their 1,200-acre farm.  Ashlin’s favorite dairy product is chocolate ice cream.

Layla Brandes

Layla Brandes is the daughter of Nathan and Allie Brandes. She is nine years old, and attends Boscobel Elementary School. Layla lives on her grandparents 350-cow dairy farm in rural Wauzeka. She is a member of the Steuben River Runners 4-H group. Layla enjoys helping her parents with their beef herd, and working with her show cattle. In her free time, she enjoys hunting, softball, dance, and Taekwondo.

Advance tickets for the banquet are $12, and can be purchased by contacting Crawford County Extension Office, Jane Achenbach 608-412-1742, or Donna Hartley 608-604-9699, before the June 1 deadline.

Dairy Breakfast

The 2025 Crawford County Dairy Breakfast will be held at Achenbach`s Hy-View Farms, 29245 Highway 27, Eastman, from 6 to 10 a.m., on Saturday, June 7. Call 608-438-6537 for more information.

June Dairy Days

June Dairy Days will be celebrated in the Village of Soldiers Grove on Father’s Day Weekend, on Friday and Saturday, June 13-14. There will be a carnival in the Village Park all weekend, and an American Legion Chicken-Q on Friday and Saturday. The event is sponsored by the Soldiers Grove Fire Department, American Legion Post #220, and the Soldiers Grove Lions Club.

Things will kick off on Friday night with a South-west Pullers Truck & Trac-tor Pull at 6 p.m. On Satur-day, there will be a Black-horse Saddle Club Horse Show at noon, a Kid’s Kindschi Pedal Pull at 4 p.m., and Bean Bag, Vol-leyball, and Legion Softball tournaments. At dusk, there will be a light parade, and the Crawford County Line Band will play on Saturday night.