Goodrich farm, 4-H club teaching kids about rural life
When Marilyn Goodrich brings her goats to Glen Ellyn Historical Society's Tavern Day Celebration, older people often come up to her and say, "I had a goat once" or "My grandmother had a goat."
Goodrich's 11-acre farm on Trails End in unincorporated Carol Stream is a throwback to bygone days when young people grew up taking care of animals and neighbors knew one another.
"Time seems to have stopped when you get to Trails End," said Jean Jeske, a member of the Glen Ellyn Historical Society who persuaded Goodrich to be part of Tavern Day for the fifth year in the row.
"Just being there is a lot of fun," said Goodrich, 82, who engages visitors in conversation about the goats and about the way Glen Ellyn used to be.
"They come to watch the animals and we sit there and watch the people."
This year's Tavern Day Celebration takes place from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, at the Glen Ellyn History Center, 800 N. Main St., Glen Ellyn. The event includes country dancing, a one-room school house, pioneer crafts, storytelling and a bake sale, along with live animals to pet.
Goodrich will bring goats Bell, Cory and Pepper and probably a couple of chickens to the celebration.
"Goats are very friendly," she said. "To me, they are a cross between livestock and pets because they do like people and they like attention."
Rick Boge, a neighbor who boards his 12 Guernsey cows on Goodrich's property, will take Holly the cow and a calf named Daisy to provide a milking demonstration.
"We milk the cow and put the milk in a bottle and let the kids around feed the calf," he said.
Boge has boarded his cows with Goodrich for about 11/2 years, and three of children belong a 4-H club Goodrich leads.
"She's one in a million," Boge said. "She just meets everyone with open arms."
Life on the farmGoodrich grew up in Glen Ellyn, not far from the farm she moved to as a bride in 1947. Her in-laws had bought the original 35 acres in the 1930s and pastured cows and horses there during the summer.Her late husband, George, an excavator, didn't take to farming, but Goodrich did. When George passed away 10 years ago, she turned down offers to sell the property."I just enjoy having animals around and it was a great place to raise children," she said.Goodrich raised a son and a daughter on farm. Her granddaughter, Sia Paganis, and her granddaughter's sons, Cosmos, 10, and Oli, 8, now live across the street.Her granddaughter comes over to help her with morning and afternoon chores. Several members of Goodrich's 4-H club also drop by after school to help feed and milk the animals."I usually have a lot of help in the afternoon," Goodrich said. "Especially teenage girls seem to have an affinity for animals."The animals include a dozen goats, chickens, turkeys, two ponies, a contingent of barn cats, and rabbits she boards for a 4-H member.On a recent afternoon, Emma Peterson, 12, and two of her brothers rode their bikes over before 4 p.m. chore time."I like to milk the goats and play with ponies," Emma said.Emma said she raises rabbits herself and is a member of Goodrich's 4-H club."She's very good," she said of the club's longtime leader. "She makes the best desserts."4-H leaderA 4-H member herself in her youth, Goodrich is starting her 54th year as the leader of the Whirlybirds 4-H club. She inherited the club's name when she took over the leadership when her own daughter was 8. Her daughter and granddaughter now help lead the club, and her two great-grandsons are members.Goodrich was honored for her longtime service as a 4-H leader during the Illinois State Fair this summer when she was enshrined in the Illinois State 4-H Hall of Fame."I didn't know there was such a thing," she said. "It was quite an honor."Goodrich now has families in the club who are second generation members, and adults who know her from their 4-H days come up to her at the DuPage County Fair. She once had a man who she estimated to be in his 60s come to her front door, grin and start reciting the 4-H pledge to show her that he remembered."It's such great fun just watching kids develop," she said. "The motto is to help kids make the best better."Goodrich said the 20 members of her club do projects that include animals, woodworking, food, and arts and crafts."In DuPage County, livestock obviously isn't the prime interest anymore," she said. "There isn't an occupation or interest that isn't covered somewhere."Open heart and homeBoge said Goodrich's helpfulness goes beyond working with 4-H to letting neighbors get wood from her property or park a trailer there."She a throwback to the days when neighbors helped neighbors," he said. "We've been really blessed to have her as part of our lives."Goodrich agrees that times have changed around her. A lifelong member of Grace Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn, she remembered walking home from youth group meetings as a kid."When I was growing up, no matter how late a meeting was at night or anything, you never took any worry about kids walking home," she said."It's a challenge now to get young people outside, away from the television and computer."Goodrich said she has had young children at the DuPage County Fair tell her in all seriousness that milk comes from a carton in the grocery store."It's amazing how many youngsters in this day and age don't know where their food comes from," she said.That isn't a problem for the young people who help on Goodrich's farm. As she waited on a recent afternoon for 4-H members to arrive to help her with chores, she admonished two goats who had escaped from the pasture to graze on twigs and leaves in her yard."They'll taste and nibble on anything, but as far as eating, they're very fussy," she said. The goats like being clean and dry, she said. "One drop of rain will send them panic stricken to the barn. They hate being wet," she said.Apart from their irrational fear of rain, the goats are smart, Goodrich said. And a couple of hers are particularly adept at finding their way through fences and gates."Their prime goal in life is to annoy me, I think," she said. "But I must enjoy it or I wouldn't be here."If you goWhat: Tavern Day CelebrationWhen: 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26Where: Glen Ellyn History Center, 800 N. Main St.Cost: $8 adults, $4 children, $25 family of four or more; $6, $3 and $20 respectively in advance and for Glen Ellyn Historical Society membersInfo: (630) 469-1867False20001398Emma Peterson, 12, of Glen Ellyn, a member of Goodrich's 4-H club, helps to milk Bell, who will be at the Tavern Day Celebration.Bev Horne | Staff PhotographerFalse