(no subject)
We went to my great aunt and uncle's 64th wedding anniversary today at the Old Country Buffet. (This great uncle is my mom's dad's brother.)
Their son Tony was there, and this 1971 newspaper article mentioning him was being passed around.
And by the way, Tony bypassed Vietnam as a conscientious objector after his friend came back from there burned over 75% of his body (helicopter crash) and said, do whatever you can to stay out of it. So Tony sat before the county Selective Service board with his parents' reputation in town (his dad was a chiropractor and his mom an elementary school teacher) and letters written by friends, and since public sentiment was turning against the war at the time, he was able to get CO status.
So anyway, I like how these "good hippies" accept everyone ... except the "bad hippies"! Also they say they make enough money for themselves yet they can't afford (bees to make) wax to make candles. Silly kids. And ... boring, yeah.
(I maintained all bad grammar and such.)
Tony lived with these people for 2 months in Revillo, South Dakota, and hooked up with them later as well. (Well, not "hooked up" with them ...)
"Hippies" Living Near Revillo?
Ed. Note: Much interest has been aroused because of the hippies that live on a farm near Revillo. Many curiosity seekers have stopped into their place just to see the hippies and how they live. In order to get a real insite into how they live, what they believe, what they do, this reporter went on a 2 day visit to the “hippie colony” and talked first hand the members present. Their story is as follows:
As you drive over the hill to the hippie farm, you are greeted by a large smiling sun painted in bold colors on the side of the house. The farmstead is called “Happy Trails” by those that live there and everything about the people, the farm and thoughts of them is happy. I was first of all surprised to find only 3 people living there contrary to reports of as high as 50. Lauri, the only girl of the group, greeted me first and then I was introduced to Don, Lauri’s “companion” and finally, the last of the group, Tony.
One of the first questions in arriving is what are you doing here. I guess I couldn’t of been more surprised when they said “what everyone who lives in the country does, farm.”
Their “farm” consists of slightly more than 50 acres of which only about ½ acre is planted with a vegetable garden. They rent the farm and only use the buildings. Housed in the building are 8 pigs, about 40 chickens and several dogs and cats. Everyone of the animals has a name and is considered a “pet” by the three members. Not one of them has ever been slaughtered as meat for the group, because according to Lauri “we just can’t kill our friends.” Rather they sell the animal and then buy other meat with the money they earn from it.
Both Don and Tony work for neighboring farms hauling bales 12 hours a day and I wasn’t able to contact one farmer in the area that didn’t think very highly of the whole group. Comments ranged from “hard workers” to “great kids”.
Six people used to live with “group” but now only 3 remain with a 4th joining them shortly. Lauri and Don both came here last May from Minneapolis where they used to live on the “West Bank”, a hippie community near the University of Minnesota. Why did they move out here? As Lauri put it, “to get out away from the crowds and the “bad” hippies that now live in Minneapolis, but the main reason was to be closer to the ‘center of the earth’, as they put it or ‘mother Nature’”.
I asked what’s the difference between “bad” and “good” hippies. Don said that, “bad hippies are the college kids that use drugs, rebel against society and protest violently, good hippies are the ones that want to be bothered by no one, just live their lives in peace with the rest of the world.” Peace, that seems to be the key word for happiness with them, they hate no one, and accept each individual for what each person is, looking for their good qualities rather than their bad ones.
Tony, the newest of the group, joined them by accident. He was hitch-hiking across country when he was picked up by a local citizen who dropped him off where there were supposed to be 50 hippies living. It turned out to be only 2, Don and Lauri, who were trying to make their farmstead liveable.
All of them are high school graduates and are probably more intelligent than the average person. They can converse on almost any subject, but their favorite seems to be the fact that all people belong to the “brotherhood of man”, that we are all brothers and should all live in peace with one another.
When asked if they used drugs, all replied that not one of them did and that was another reason that they left Minneapolis. Drugs were a real problem there and they didn’t want to get involved with them. “Too many young people are ruining their lives by using drugs. They have bad trips and really freak out” was the way Tony put it. “They’re really bad things.”
Many rumors have misled the people of this area into believing what these kids are doing here. One rumor has it that they are very rich. “Not so,” say the kids. “We were supposed to have gone into the bank at Revillo one day to write out a thousand dollar check and the Revillo bank checked with our bank and was told that we could write out a check for any amount that we wanted. If we had that much money we would be giving it away to someone more deserving than ourselves,” said Lauri. We make enough to feed ourselves and all our friends and considering the poverty in our country alone, we are well of and quite fortunate.”
What is done for “excitement” around the farm? Don replied that “nothing is really happening, we don’t have a car, and working 12 hours a day from dawn til almost dusk, leaves very little for us to do but talk and enjoy nature. We have a TV but that doesn’t work, so during the few slack hours that we have we do chores and make candles. Wax is getting to be a problem to find though and we would like to get some bees so that we could have our own wax, but they cost a lot of money and we just can’t afford it at this time.”
Don continued, “also, there is a lot to do around the house, when we moved here, there was nothing in the house. We had to furnish the whole house with some things that we have been able to pick up at auctions and second-hand stores. It’s quite a job to get the place cleaned up and liveable, but we do what we can each day and Lauri stays home all day working on painting and cleaning. There are some real good people living around here that have helped us out a lot too, and we really appreciate it.” They’re a lot more broad-minded than we expected,” Lauri said.
When they arrived in May, they had a tough time finding work for almost a month, but now they are working for one farmer daily.
What are their plans for the future? As Lauri said, “We plan to live for at least 2 years trying to build up some cash reserve, so that we can go up to Canada and homestead, but we are beginning to like this place so well, we might just decide to stay here forever.” Lauri believes that she might be pregnant, so that will alter their plans slightly. Even though the three live together sharing the same house, Don and Lauri consider themselves man and wife, even though they have never been through a civil ceremony. Lauri’s parents would like to see them married but that remains to be seen. The morals of the group are very high as there is no promiscuous sex practiced. Don and Lauri keep their private lives private. Lauri said, “We have tried to have a baby for two years, but I guess God wants us to wait for awhile."
The future also calls for raising some sheep and goats if they can find goats around here so that they can have fresh milk. They will also have to get hold of some machinery because they don’t even have the crudest equipment and they want to plant some crops next spring. “Weird things like sunflowers, popcorn and peanuts,” said Don.
Right now they have their eye on a school bus behind the implement store in Revillo. The bus has no motor but they would like to get it if the “price” is right and work on it through the winter so that they can go where they want, when they want rather than depending on neighbors picking them up when they want to go to town.
Next week we will continue this article, telling you some of the thoughts these young people have on war, religion and sex.
