We like to have a lot of fun the farm.  During Wessels' events you can be sure there are activities for the whole family surrounding the featured activities of the event. Occasionally we hold an adults-only event during evening hours.  Event listings are updated here, on our FB page and often found in Nebraska Life & Nebraska Traveler magazines, York Chamber Chats, YCDC Community Calendar and local news sources.

You might be surprised just how much there is to do at Wessels during our family-friendly events.  Bring the family and tell your friends!  Proceeds from all events go towards maintaining our living history displays, educational program, animal care and facilities.

Create your own event!  Wessels Farm is a great place for family reunions, birthday parties, bridal showers, team get-aways and more. We do allow weddings on the farm but we do not close the farm for an event held during our regular open hours as we are a living history farm first, venue as a bonus!  Contact us to begin planning your event today! 

Foreclosures

We like to have a lot of fun the farm.  During Wessels' events you can be sure there are activities for the whole family surrounding the featured activities of the event. Occasionally we hold an adults-only event during evening hours.  Event listings are updated here, on our FB page and often found in Nebraska Life & Nebraska Traveler magazines, York Chamber Chats, YCDC Community Calendar and local news sources.

You might be surprised just how much there is to do at Wessels during our family-friendly events.  Bring the family and tell your friends!  Proceeds from all events go towards maintaining our living history displays, educational program, animal care and facilities.

Create your own event!  Wessels Farm is a great place for family reunions, birthday parties, bridal showers, team get-aways and more. We do allow weddings on the farm but we do not close the farm for an event held during our regular open hours as we are a living history farm first, venue as a bonus!  Contact us to begin planning your event today! 

Foreclosures

farm foreclosureForeclosure is the legal process that banks use to get back some of the money they loaned when a borrower can’t repay the loan. During the 30s, there were thousands of foreclosures. The word “foreclosure” itself became a rallying cry for political movements.

Here’s what often happened. During the 20s, many farmers borrowed money from banks to buy more land or new machinery. Farmers pledged their assets as security on the loan. So if a farmer couldn’t make the payments on a loan for land, the bank could take back the asset – the land – and sell it to get back their money. In the 1920s, many loans were written when land values and crop prices were high. After the stock market crash, few people had the money to buy land, and so land values plummeted. When a bank had to foreclose and sell the land, they couldn’t make up the difference. So, banks would take all of the assets pledged to the loan. Families were often thrown off their farms and lost everything.

PickrelHarvey Pickrel (left) had two experiences with foreclosure. His father-in-law, Merle, couldn’t pay off his loan, so the bank sold his farm at auction. But Merle was luckier than most. He kept farming – only now he was a renter rather than an owner of the farm. Later in the decade, Harvey got behind on payments for a $400 tractor. In 1939, he came close to being foreclosed upon. But his banker was willing to give him more time, and Harvey was able to pay off the loan later.


DoughertyAnd some farmers and townspeople tried to find buyers of their property so they wouldn’t have a foreclosure on their record. That’s how Louise Dougherty and her husband, John, bought their first house.

Written by Bill Ganzel of the Ganzel Group. First written and published in 2003.

 

 

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