In 1966 Charles and Faith Kelkenberg purchased the Meisner Farm on Wolcott Rd. in Clarence Center. Having both grown up on farms, they were happy to have a farm to live on and raise their six children. On the farm they had beef cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, and a riding horse.
When the youngest child entered kindergarten in 1976, Charlie and Faith purchased their first Belgian Draft Horse, “Connie.” In 1977 they added “Libby” so that they had a working team of horses. As the children grew, so did the number of animals and draft horses. Family hay rides with their horses became public hay rides. “Word of mouth” advertising soon had school children visiting the farm, hay rides for hire, and pony rides for children. What started as a hobby became a full fledged business!!
In 1992, Charlene (Charlie and Faith’s daughter) married Patrick Spoth and returned to work on the farm. Having a Masters Degree in agriculture Education was a natural fit for expanding the educational school tour.
The saying “all that goes round, comes round,” is certainly applicable as the farm continues to grow today. Patrick and Charlene built their home across the farm yard from Charlie and Faith so that they could raise their children on the farm. Four children make up the third generation on Kelkenberg Farm of Clarence.
In 2006, when Patrick and Charlene’s youngest child started kindergarten, Charlene began to assume more of the business management responsibilities. Now in 2009 the farm is formally moving on to the second generation.
Although we have been at it for 30 years, we will continue to update our farm tour to address the needs of all ages and interests of farm visitors. We love it when repeat farm visitors tell us they learned something new. We have entered our 24th year of providing an educational program for children to learn about agriculture and farm life. We have expanded our fall season to include horse drawn hay rides to the pumpkin field for families to make great memories. We also have seasonal produce and baked goods available.
Most of all; all three generations on our farm enjoy visiting with customers and educating them about our farm family and life. We enjoy helping people to get a taste of our country life and at the same time learn about our great American Agriculture Industry.
