As the 2006 “Grandparents of the Year” in Granton, 

Cathy and Dick Winter 

will lead the community’s annual Fall Festival Parade on September 10^th.

Dick and Cathy Winter, longtime residents of the Granton area, have been selected as the 2006 Grandparents of the year in a contest sponsored by the Granton FFA Alumni.

September 10 is the 27^th National Grandparent Day in America and this just happens to be the day of the Granton Fall Festival parade.  The honored grandparents will lead the parade as it winds down the streets of Granton.

They were nominated by their six grandchildren, who are Kyle and Dan Curran, of Mt. Horeb; Hannah and Karl Strickland, of Stratford; and Logan and Lana Blumer, of Chetek.

Grandsons Dan and Kyle summed it up best when they wrote the following letter: “We were the first grandchildren to come along in the family as a double arrival, twin grandsons.  The circumstances of our birth brought an immediate response of support form Grandma and Grandpa Winter – physical help holding and feeding premature babies.  Grandma and Grandpa made the 2 ½ hour drive to our home the day after we arrived home from the hospital.  Grandpa, being the experienced farmer that he is in dealing with twin births with his cattle, thought we were very tiny for good survival odds.  He let Grandma stay giving up his best farming partner, to help our parents get through the first few weeks.  That wouldn’t be the last time Grandma Cathy came to our rescue in our first few years.  She moved in for a few days at a time for extended illness and operations.

As toddlers and continuing to the present, we have become big fans of the family farm as we visit Grandma and Grandpa on weekends and for weeks during the summer.  We learned how to sweep the barn floor and loved the opportunities Grandma’s patience allowed when she supervised as we sat on the big tractors just imagining that we were really driving them.  Grandma and Grandpa included us in their chores and taught us about their farm.  When we started kindergarten and noticed that our bus driver smelled a lot like the barn at the Winter farm, we were sure he was a great guy – connected with farming and the smells of a barn.  We enjoyed those summer weeks on the farm not just for the farm work but also the good food Grandma made as part of the farm meal table.  She even taught Kyle how to make homemade bread.

Grandma and Grandpa have been tied to their milking and farm work so they don’t often get away together to visit us in Mt. Horeb, but they’ve made it to those really important life events – baptism, confirmation and graduation.  The care packages keep coming through the mail for everything from chicken pox to college life adjustment.  We know we are loved and treasured by our grandparents who have passed on their love of the land and farming to us.”

Logan, age 5, Chetek says, “Every time we go to the farm, I wish I could stay for 40 days and 40 nights.”

Hannah, at Stratford, says, “Grandma and Grandpa’s house was practically my second home when I was young.  There are so many memories of birthdays, Thanksgivings, Christmases, Easters, and many other holidays there.  I could go on and on talking about how wonderful my grandparents are, but by the time I got done the parade would be over and you would have missed it.”

Dick and Cathy Winter both grew up in the Granton area.  When they got married, they built a new home one half mile east of Dick’s home place and continued farming with his dad.  They were married September 5, 1959. 

They have five children.  They are Connie Curran, Mt. Horeb; Marcia Garza, Stratford; Kevin, Granton; Carolyn Blumer, Chetek; and Julie Plautz, Greenwood.

Dick (age 74) and Cathy continue to farm full-time and are now in a partnership with their son, Kevin, who also runs a bee and honey operation on the farm.

They are members of the Granton Zion American Lutheran Church at Granton, and they are members of the Granton FFA Alumni.

They milk 35 cows and farm 160 tillable acres.  They grow corn, oats, barley and hay.  They keep a neat homestead.

In commenting on the award, they say Granton is a friendly town with people who care.  They have a nice school, a nice main street and nice churches.  It is a nice place to raise a family.

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