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Dale Lehman
Hatteberg's People
Reporter: Larry Hatteberg
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November 18, 2002 - Dale
Lehman doesn't want to live his life playing the 'what if' game.
What if I had only done this? What if I had only done that?
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So, 18 months ago he bought the grain
elevator in Yoder. Now, no more games in what may be one of the states most
fascinating communities.
"I'm very happy where I'm at." |
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| "Yeah, we have a lot of Amish people
come through here and I can very much appreciate them.
Last wheat harvest we had a guy with a team of horses and a box
wagon come in and bring a load of wheat in.
That was very unusual I would say." |
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At lot of things can go wrong at a grain elevator.
Dale Lehman is a problem solver and the problem is never easy.
"No it isn't.
It seems you always do it a couple of times before you get the
right parts in I guess."
At 25 years old, Dale owns this elevator.
A year and half ago he made that fateful decision.
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"You go in with the Lord on your
side and it's just been a wonderful experience. It has worked out very
very well. |
| A recent story in the Hutchinson News said
there were 800 grain elevators in Kansas.
Of those 800 only 30 were owned by an individual. This may be the
only own owned by a 25 year old with an eighth grade education. |
"It doesn't seem to effect me that
much and I guarantee you I'm not the brightest guy that ever walked.
I was just an average school kid...if that. The educated people I deal with a lot on the phone.
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| They ask me which college I went to and I tell them I just have an
eighth grade education and they say they would have never noticed." |
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Tied up outside the elevator, the
Amish lifestyle is of slower moments, the smell of damp leather hangs in
the air, old wood creaks, the reins worn, the horse curious of an outsider
the Amish call the 'English', and old wheels wait turn one more time. |
| It is in this world and this town that
Dale Lehman has chosen to make his life.
Or perhaps it chose him. |
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"There is so much to be thankful
for. I have a wonderful wife
and son and I'm happy where I'm at."
Dale Lehman, planting life's seeds,
one day at a time.
"Praise the Lord for that."
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Note:
Dale can be found working at the Yoder Farm and Ranch Center (Yoder
Grain Elevator) daily.
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| Have a story idea for Hatteberg's
People? Send Larry an email
with the details. |
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