Celebrating Dad's Farming Career

Last night we pulled off the grand-daddy of surprise parties. My dad retired from farming this year (as I blogged about here) and it has been a transition for all of us. Farming involves the entire family so we all felt that it was the end of the era. I thought this was cause for celebration!

The idea started forming months ago but took some time to develop into a full fledged party. Juggling schedules and deciding on details took some time, but I must admit we pulled off quite the event. I had an absolute hoot!

This party needed to be a surprise because if my dad caught wind of it, he would put a stop to it right then and there. He is not much for crowds or making a “fuss” but I knew that if we could pull it off, he would feel as loved and honoured as we wanted him to.

I have the most amazing family and we really make a great team. Everyone has their own set of skills they bring to the table and when we arrived at the hall on Saturday we set to work. We transformed it from an old country hall typically used for card socials to a trip down memory lane. John provided some bales of straw, we had toy tractors, photographs…the place looked awesome. And smelled awesome too! We had a “farmer’s supper” of roast beef, mashed potatoes, veggies, and homemade carrot cake.

When my dad walked through the door and we all yelled SURPRISE! he was astounded. He thought he was going to a rural farmer’s dinner (or something like that…John made it up) Even after each of us gave him a hug and said “happy retirement” he was still perplexed!

It was the perfect blend of family, friends and neighbours; some who I haven’t seen in years. A really fun night where we shared stories of growing up on the farm and what that means to us, and even sang a song. This last minute idea from Connie ended up being the highlight of the evening! With the help of some Facebook friends, we re-wrote the words to Coal Miner’s Daughter to Three Farmer’s Daughters. Thanks Nadine & Brooke!

I left the party feeling so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing people. Thanks to everyone that helped us pull it off  and especially to my family. But most of all to my dad for shaping who I am.