Family Farm Day

Family Farm Day is an opportunity for our cattle owning families to participate and observe the processes that surround the raising of beef for for a family's' private consumption. The day is flexible providing the level of involvement appropriate for each attending family. Feeding, cleaning, leading, watering, and walking your private steer is a popular and interesting opportunity to view the animal your family owns. Each steer is ear tagged and clearly identified as to its ownership.

Some families want a more general overview of the farm experience. Those families can use the time as a mini vacation and time together trying a group of activities not readily available in city life. Horseback riding, hay rides, tractor driving, field inspection, orchard work or riding, vineyard walks, photo opportunities of the area, feeding horses, grooming, leading, cart driving, training sessions with the "gentle giant" Percheron draft horses raised on the farm. Walking and talking with the donkeys used for trekking the sixteen square mile state park that rests at the end of our road. Learn to harness the horses for hay rides or just go on the hay rides. It's up to you and your family. Fishing in the area and on the property is another sport all by itself. We have three bodies of water large enough to support fish of reasonable size. In 1996 we had no fishing experiences where the fish did not cooperate. Every outing brought catches of merit. We generally fish for Northern Pike for sport, and sunfish and bass for dinner fishing. The Northern Pike are active most of the year but generally have too many "y" bones to provide boneless presentations so we catch and release those fish leaving them for the bald eagles that hover overhead of most of our fishing excursions. Nature abounds in the northwest setting of Snow Valley Farms.

There are generally activities in the small towns that surround Snow Valley Farms. Threshers show using steam driven equipment, antique tractor parades, Hitch Club events, farm auctions, or just the peace of shopping in small towns or with the Amish community may round out your family's farm experience. Dates and times are luck of the draw but generally there are enough activities to exceed the expectations of our clients. We expect many in the year 1997 will extend their mini-vacation to take advantage of some of the events of the well known vacation area.

Snow Valley Farms Inc. has only one available bunk house arrangement for our cattle clients at this time and for a small fee ($75 per person) the stay of one family can be extended at the bunk house. Those accommodations then include a Friday and Saturday dinner, Saturday and Sunday breakfasts, and Saturday and Sunday lunches. All meals are served family style and consist of whatever is being served to our family. The bunk house family is generally welcomed after noon on Friday of Family Day weekend and leaves the farm after noon on Sunday. The facility is not a normal commercial inn but it is homey, clean, spacious, private, and scenic. The bunk house has its own full bathroom, large deck overlooking one of our lakes, two bunkbeds with singles above and doubles below plus a couch, and the usual comforts of travel.

Children are welcome at Snow Valley Farms and their participation in any activity is encouraged - however - safety is a real concern for any child in the company of animals of any size, farm machinery, lakes, woods, and trees. Therefore it is required that children be accompanied by a parent responsible for the safety of their child during the activities they participate in. There are activities that may require the wearing the of safety equipment such as helmets, hearing protection, eye protection, life jackets, and other forms of personal protective equipment. Adults may drive the tractors and associated equipment after a short orientation for the equipment. Children are not permitted to sit on the moving or running equipment in any location except in areas specifically identified for seating such as hay wagons, stone boats, etc. We encourage the use of all equipment by those who choose to become familiar with it or to reacquaint themselves with the past.

The Family Farm Day begins Saturday morning and runs through dinner Saturday evening. A suggested schedule might look like the following: