Neighbors rally to help one of their own

(File Photo) Lindell "Pete" and Jackie Petersen sit on the front steps of their rural Spencer farmhouse during a break from last year's harvest. Pete suffered a stroke in late October and farmers are rallying to reap the Petersen family's harvest. [Order this photo]

Clay County farmer Lindell "Pete" Petersen suffered a stroke the evening of Oct. 25, but you couldn't tell it by his cattle or fields, which are being tended to and harvested by friends and neighbors.

"This is a neighbor, which makes it a community effort. This is just something that people will do for their neighbors here in the Midwest. You do it without even thinking about it," Linda Weiskircher said of the neighborly harvesting effort currently under way for Pete and Jackie Petersen.

While the peers are managing to harvest their own fields at the same time, they rallied -- with the use of cell phones and Petersen's equipment, some of which is vintage -- to complete their friends' soybeans on the afternoon of Oct. 27. Harvesting of the cornfields, which began last Friday, is expected to wrap up shortly.

"We've had very good help and we're working at it, just kind of at our own pace. The weather's cooperated so far," Jim Sonius reported. "The crops are coming in with good moisture levels. We've been running them into Pete's grain dryer, and had a few glitches along the way, but otherwise it's been a very good, very steady operation."

"I'll tell you what," the rural Spencer neighbor who worked for Petersen during his high school and college summers added, "it's a benefit to live in northwest Iowa when you see all the neighbors that have called and stopped by and are very willing to help another neighbor when something like this happens."

The list of those offering to assist, meanwhile, continues to grow. Doug Eickhoff, Karen Eickhoff, Frank Krieger, Frank Parks, John and Linda Weiskircher, Steve Weiskircher, Mike Heikens, Justin Heikens, Ed Heikens, Effie Heikens, Darrell and Carolyn Noll, Jim and Cindy Sonius, Mary Sonius, Dale and Maureen Belz, Dave Roseboom, Jim O'Hearn, Kathy Christensen and Lyle Cretsinger are among those who've helped to date.

"It wouldn't matter who you are, where you are in our community or what you do -- they'd pitch in and help you no matter what," Carolyn Noll said. "We're grateful, and I know Jackie and Pete are grateful, for the help, the concerns, the love and the prayers that have been pouring in."

While the 74-year-old Petersen and his wife, their four daughters and their families are being kept updated on progress being made by the pinch hit crew, friends and family back home are also staying abreast of the Clay County farmer's advancements via postings being made by Linda LaMair, the couple's second daughter, on his CaringBridge site.

"At this point, the daily progress is very visible to us. ... All of his therapies continue to progress well," she relayed Friday afternoon.

LaMair also acknowledged her parents love for each another is apparent during this time of recovery at the Mercy Medical Center Stroke Clinic in Des Moines.

"They are quite a team, and together they are seeing each other through," she reported to friends and family.

While she has written in a handful of messages that the cards, online postings, get well wishes and flowers sent by others are appreciated because they allow a connection to the outside world, LaMair also informed readers, "Thank you just isn't enough to the whole harvest crew and their support staff. Believe me, Dad is keeping track and loves to hear the progress reports coming from northwest Iowa. We are eternally grateful to all of you."

In another message, which described Petersen's keeping those assisting him in the hospital on their toes, LaMair recounted how her father reacted to nurses who dressed him in his own pajamas for the first time.

"I get to wear my pajamas," Petersen asked. "Now I can be Hugh Hefner and you can be my 'Girls Next Door.'"

"I'm sure they really have no idea what they are in for," LaMair commented on last Friday's incident, "but they're starting to get an idea."

Through her much anticipated "Pete-isms of the Day," which show that Petersen's sense of humor and zest for life remain intact, LaMair has relayed him stating, "I'm not on the obituary page yet, am I?"

Another "Pete-ism of the Day" had Petersen saying the nurses there "never have to worry about finding a job because they can always join the gestapo."

Yet another relayed a speech pathologist asking Petersen to write a sentence. When asked if he then wanted to read what he'd written, Petersen piped up, "Can I have a beer tonight?"

* To log onto Petersen's CaringBridge site for more "Pete-isms of the Day" and updates on his progress, visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lindel... online. Well wishes may also be sent to Linda LaMair at 112 S. 31st St., West Des Moines, Iowa 50265.