Agricultural was the mainstay of the Hutterites when they migrated to the prairies of North America in 1874 and the reason for settling in the regions they did. The Hutterite population numbers around 45,000. I found an excellent website should you be more interested in learning about this population of people who keep to their 19th century customs and values. Hutterite.org
And just like many farmers today where one or both wage earners may have a job away from the farm, the Hutterites have also had to diversify, no longer relying totally on agricultural as their way of life. Such was the colony we visited.
This colony relies on fabrication to supplement the income needed to sustain the 15 or so families living in the colony. Metal fabrication is the creation of metal structures by cutting, bending and assembling processes. It is a value-added process involving the creation of machines, parts, and structures from various raw materials. ~Wikipedia
Our tour of the fabrication building started after lunch. Our morning guide was our guide in the HUGE metal building that began as creating the fenders and chrome parts for the cabs of Peterbilt trucks. She was knowledgable and answered our many questions.
the chrome parts area
This colony continues to produce chrome pieces for the truck cabs, but I understood they no longer make the fenders.
The fabrication building had a huge, newer addition to the other end. There were less than a handful of Hutterite men working in this area, and as many English (their word for non-Hutterites).
this part of the building had 5 or 6 bays
where different fabrications were happening, or not
one man was running the machine that bent the side tabs
for these cement truck chutes
no human was in this area
small pipes were being cut while we were there...
...but these metal beams of various sizes were also
stacked in this area giving me the impression the machines
also made square and rectangular beams, as well as pipes
this machine lazar cut sheets of metal
no human was at this machine either
Our female guide told us the fabrication runs 24/7 or maybe 24/6? (They do not work on Sundays). One person is there at night to make certain the machines run as programmed. Some of the men have gone to Technical School to have the skills needed to do these jobs. We were told, the colony does not have enough men, and that is the reason English are also employed in the fabrication department.
We also visited the machine shop. I thought, what a waste. What a surprise!
one of the bays
there was a second one of the same size, also empty
they have their own firetruck
all five of our cars parked in the bay with the fire truck
and a semi could have driven in the center
we walked through a doorway and this combine greeted us
and on the far end of the building, two campers
Campers? you say...they go camping?
No. This colony bought the TrailManor company. It makes all the parts and sends them to another colony where the campers are assembled. Checkout their website: TrailManor. Talk about diversifying!
unknown contents of this building, but it gives
you the idea of its size
We did get to see one more of their diversified products, but I am saving that for the third post.
This is the school building with gymnasium on the far right. It hosts the 3 English classrooms, and two German classrooms. German school started this week with classes before English classes and a second German school will start next month and be held after English school, for all K-8 students. For now, the students all have required chores after school during daylight hours and having to do with the garden and crops.
This photo and the one above were taken from the entrance of the machine shop where we had all driven our cars out of the rain and mud.
This is a photo of two of the housing units. Our guide offered to show us her family home, but we graciously refused her offer. (Can you imagine 15 nosy English coming to your house unannounced?!) Her home is shared with her mother and father. She is the only child of 12 who lives at home. Her oldest brother has left the colony and lives in another SD community with his wife and children. Her youngest brother has also left the colony and Hutterite way of life. He and his wife (Guatemalan) live in Guatemala with their children. His wife speaks 4 languages! The sons and their families visit the colony and she and her parents travel and visit their sons and families. She has at least one sister living at this colony and I believe one lives in Canada in another colony.
The houses have a kitchen, dining area, living room or front room, bathroom, and as many as six bedrooms, as does hers. No televisions. The houses do not have a laundry area as the laundry is communal and in the lower level of the Main Building. So their homes, 2 or 3 to a unit, vary in size based on family size, are built around the Main Building. Research on the Hutterite.org site told me about 15 families live in a colony. The number of people in a community used to be around 125. Not the case now as the family size is smaller.
We also got to see their church.
the women were fall cleaning in the church
no hymnals, they sing a cappella at this colony
church on Sunday mornings, lasts an hour plus
men sit on one side, women on the other
Sunday School for the children in the afternoon
children under age 5 do not attend church on Sunday mornings
shorter services every evening before the evening meal,
according to hutterite.org
Okay. One more post about my visit to a Hutterite Colony
and another diversification for survival.
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