17 - NEW AND IMPROVED

NEW AND IMPROVED

21 x 13 ½ inches

(c. 1990’s—Dad’s concrete high-moisture bins in Uehling, Nebraska)

After eighteen years of farming, Dad wanted to pursue his own dreams. Dad invented and invented. Finally two inventions sparked, and financial success followed.

Just a teenager, I was nervous, but honored when he asked me to do mechanical drawings for an auger he wanted to manufacture. He could be very impatient and animated while trying to describe what he wanted me to draft. When he realized his intensity was blocking my ability to sketch, he calmed down and tried another way to explain his vision. We both summoned internal patience with each other and successfully finished the drawings for engineers to put the auger into production.

After the augers were manufactured, they were placed in the deepest point of a conical-shaped concrete floor he had designed. Gravity allowed the grain to fall to the auger opening. The electrical gears inside the spiral interior of the auger moved the grain up for removal. Before these combined inventions, farmers had to hand shovel old grain out of the bottom of the bin, forcing them to breathe toxic fumes. Because Dad had experienced the loss of one of his workers, he was determined to prevent another accident. His invention made grain removal easier while saving farmers' lives. Dad’s company grew rapidly while he and his crews built huge bins across five Midwestern states. His inventions were tangible examples of his ingenuity and perseverance. His faith in my ability to help him built my confidence at an impressionable age.