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Interview by Plainfield Township Historical Commission Chairman Rona Dane Sullivan
For many people raised in small communities, life was built around the land, family and neighbors who knew each other by name. In my interview, I spoke to Laura Thayer Kaiser, who experienced that lifestyle firsthand while growing up on a farm in the close-knit community of Long Lake.
Laura’s earliest memory of the farm was moving from a house down the road to the farmhouse located off the first curve heading toward South Branch from Long Lake. A dirt road led to the farm, surrounded by wide-open fields. Laura remembers riding on the tailgate during the move with her younger brother, Brian, while their parents, Leo and Dorothy Thayer, worked hard to provide for their family of four children; Herb, Leonard, Laura, and Brian.
During our interview, Laura shared that the farmhouse did not have electricity. Her mother would visit the icehouse in Long Lake, located where the telephone building stands today, to bring home blocks of ice. Dorothy built a cement enclosure to store the ice and preserve meat. Everything was canned, and there was always plenty of food on the table. Friends and neighbors often stopped by around mealtime, knowing they would be welcomed with a good meal.
Laura and Brian first attended school in South Branch at the one-room schoolhouse that is now the fire department. Although they later transferred to Hale because they lived in Iosco County while the schoolhouse was in Ogemaw County, Laura formed a lifelong friendship there with Marcia Clark. The two remain best friends to this day.
Before each school year, Dorothy would take the children to Tauberts in Hale for clothes and shoes. The Taubert family were close friends of Leo and Dorothy.
Laura explained that families in the area lived largely on venison, fish and wild game. Dorothy once cooked turtle for the family, and they loved it. Fishing and hunting were a way of life year-round.
When Laura was 3 and Brian was 2, their father worked for Dow Chemical. One day he came home with pajamas that had feet in them, something the children had never seen before, and they loved them. Laura recalled that her mother asked Leo to take time off from hunting, but he refused. Leo hunted not only for his family, but also to help neighbors in need. Friends visiting from Detroit and other places often brought hand-me-down clothes and other items for the children, kindnesses the family deeply appreciated.
Laura also shared the story of when her father borrowed money to buy his first bulldozer. While plowing snow on a tractor, he lost his wallet containing the borrowed money. The family searched everywhere but could not find it. The following winter, Laura’s older brother Herb kicked a clump of dirt and uncovered the missing wallet.
Today, the old farm is overgrown with trees where fields once stretched wide, but the memories remain vivid. I ended my interview by asking Laura what values from her childhood still guide her today. She said the most important things she learned were the value of family and friends.
