Life on the Century Farm

WORLEY - One hundred years, five generations, one farm.

Darleen Sheldon, who was raised on the 100-year-old Richel family farm between Worley and Plummer, recalls when electricity arrived in 1948.

"That was a major lifestyle change," the Coeur d'Alene woman said. "Things got easier, particularly with the dairy herd, because then we had electric milking machines and a motor on the water pump."

The farm on Sunnyslope Road will be recognized on Saturday at the Worley Grange by the state as a Century Farm, which means it has been owned by the same family for 100 years.

"It's unusual in this area to have a 100-year farm and even more unusual for the same family to still be farming it," said Darleen, adding that many farm families have moved on to different jobs due to swings in the economy, lack of interest or other factors.

In the past century, the U.S. has fought two world wars, wars in Asia and the Middle East, suffered through the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, the farming crises of the 1920s and 1980s and the globalization of the economy, all of which have taken a toll on the family farm.

"The Idaho State Historical Society and the Idaho Department of Agriculture wish to recognize and honor those farms, ranches, and owner/operator families who pioneered Idaho agriculture, persevered through physical hardships, natural disaster and economic hard times, and contributed so richly to rural Idaho's social fabric," the ISHS website states.

Darleen's grandparents, Carl and Mabel Richel, moved to North Idaho from North Dakota in 1914 and purchased 160 acres.

"My grandmother was a particularly hard worker," Darleen said. "She cleared land to have garden spots and raise enough grain for the cattle and horses. She would take my dad and his brother to cook in logging camps on the property to help pay for the place and taxes."

Darleen's father, Herbert Richel, started working on the farm when he was young and later finished clearing the land and built up a large cattle herd.

"The land was vitally important to my mom (Lila) and dad," Darleen said. "That's why it has been kept in the family."

Darleen said there was never a time in which the family came close to selling the farm, or carrying on the torch was in jeopardy.

But it always took hard work and neighbor helping neighbor to make it go.

"No one in the area had a great lot, but we didn't know the difference," Darleen said. "My dad had a tractor and the neighbor had a combine, so they harvested crops together.

"My dad was a self-taught welder, so, if the neighbors' equipment broke down, they'd bring my dad the pieces to weld them back together. If there was something somebody couldn't do, two or three would get together and do whatever had to be done."

Darleen recalls her father severely injuring his hand while repairing a tractor.

"He was bandaged up and kept on farming and milking cows," she said.

Today, there's still a modest, unoccupied two-bedroom home on the property that was built in 1941. A barn, shop and grain bins also exist. The sloping site has always been used to raise hay and grains. The dairy was later converted to a beef cattle operation.

"The house was small and it isn't fancy, but we managed," Darleen said. "The wind blows frequently in Worley, but where the house sits, it's protected by a hill."

A good well on the farm also helped soften the blow of nature's forces in southern Kootenai County.

"In that area, water is hard to come by in a lot of places," she said.

Still, many winters were harsh, including 1949-50.

"The wind blew all the roads shut so we were snowed in for six weeks," Darleen said. "All of the snowplows came out of Coeur d'Alene, so they didn't get to Worley for awhile."

After Darleen and her three siblings operated the farm, Darleen's daughter and son-in-law, Jeff and Sharon Bloomsburg, took over.

The Bloomsburgs lived in the home on the farm for 18 years until they outgrew it five years ago and moved into a different home near Worley.

"It's still home," Jeff said of the longtime family farm.

Herbert Richel, who didn't travel much when he was alive, was asked after a trip to Montana if it was good to be back home.

"He said, 'Yeah, after you've lived some place for 72 years, you begin to think of it as home,'" Jeff said.

Jeff said it was a great place to raise kids.

"They could play outside year-round, hike around in the woods and play in the barn," he said. "In the spring, it gets really wet. There's water running everywhere and almost a creek running along the driveway. After school the kids would get wet up to their knees from playing in the water."

Wild turkeys and deer wandering onto the property are common.

Since the Century Program began in 1990, more than 400 farms and ranches statewide have been designated as such. At least 40 acres of the original parcel of land must still maintained as part of the present holding.

The Bloomsburgs' three children - Joe, Robert and Elizabeth - assist their parents with the farm when they're not in school. They plan to carry on the family tradition.

"All three are showing an interest and are involved," Darleen said. "Even Elizabeth (the youngest of the children at 14) is tall enough to reach the pedals on the swathers, so she can drive."

Joe, who attends the University of Idaho and is majoring in agriculture systems, has expressed an interest in moving into the home on the farm some day.

"The farm is intended to stay in the family for years to come," Darleen said.