A family tradition

From a window across from the room in which she was born, Ramona Nagel Feltes watches generations of area families re-create traditions at the farm she helped build, Sonny Acres in West Chicago.

"People love it," said Feltes, who will mark her 90th birthday at a celebration next month. "They always come back."

In an era where mass-produced products are most stores' bread and butter, Sonny Acres serves as a home for the genuine spirit of each season.

"This is a place where people can make memories worth repeating," said co-owner Ellyn Feltes, quoting a family saying.

Sonny Acres does nothing halfway. Halloween and Thanksgiving aren't just about pumpkins and Puritans. They are also about popcorn balls; sweet corn; haunted hayrides; train rides; petting zoos; haunted houses; mazes; barrels of newly harvested apples; and dozens of other touches that make the holidays feel like holidays.

Amid the entertainment and novelty shops, though, the biggest touch comes from the fact that families aren't visiting a regular business when they come to Sonny Acres year after year -- they're visiting a family.

"The family makes the (business) decisions at the kitchen table, not like at Microsoft where there's some giant conference room," said co-owner Tom Feltes, gesturing with an apple in his hand.

"It's a labor of love, hard work and perseverance to carry on the family tradition."

Ferdinand and Anna Nagel bought 100 acres just east of the intersection of what is now North Avenue and Route 59 in 1883.

In 1914, the farm passed to Ferdinand and Anna's only son, Edward, who raised five daughters. One of them is Ramona Nagel Feltes, who still lives on the farm in the house her parents built.

Nagel married World War II veteran Victor Feltes in 1941, and a decade later the couple set up a table outside the farm to sell extra produce.

The farm took on the name Sonny Acres in 1954, after Ramona Feltes had eight sons in a row.

"What else could we name it after all those boys?" she said.

As other farms throughout DuPage and Kane counties were developed or consolidated and sold by the families that once owned them, the Feltes family kept theirs going by changing with the times.

Victor Feltes bought produce at the South Water Street market in Chicago and brought it back. The long trips made Sonny Acres the sole local source of fresh produce for some time. Ramona Feltes kept track of the money and paid the bills.

In 1979, the family built their sales barn and started their fall festival, which is now known as one of the largest in the area. School tours bring nearly 5,000 students to the farm each year.

"My husband wouldn't believe it if he knew how big this place has gotten," Ramona Feltes said.

Nowadays, Feltes runs the business with the help of her sons, Jim and Tom, and Tom's wife, Ellyn, who was raised in Batavia.

Ellyn Feltes' first exposure to Sonny Acres came during a date when Tom led her to a pumpkin patch, handed her a hoe and told her to be careful to not pull up roots.

"I thought 'you're kidding, right?' But I did it," she said. "That was the day he decided he was going to marry me."

Sonny Acres now consists of 25 acres and operates year-round, employing 125 people.

"The Feltes family makes you feel like you're part of their family," said Malta resident Ruth Benson, who has been working at Sonny Acres for 23 years.

Ellyn and Tom Feltes' daughters have already pledged to uphold the tradition.

"I'm hoping that we can keep it in the family another 100 years," Ellyn Feltes said.