Steve Johnston (left) of Applegate traveled to Kansas with his two young children. At right; Andy Jahn of Croswell was one of the organizers for this past weekend’s convoy.
More than 55 trucks, of all shapes and sizes, converged on TransFleet Services in Perry, Michigan, staging for yet another convoy of Michigan farm trucks traveling 1,300 miles to help their brothers and sisters.
Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and portions of Colorado were decimated by wildfires earlier this month, burning off over 2 million acres of farmland, houses, barns and livestock. Ranchers have lost everything they have spent so many years building, except for their spirit. With the help of fellow farming family, like the Michigan Convoy II, faith and hope is slowly being restored.
“I am doing this because it is the right thing to do,” said Applegate farmer Steve Johnston. “I know if the shoe was on the other foot, they’d be helping us. I had a phone call to let me know about it and I knew I had to be involved. This is a great thing, seeing all these folks coming together. But, I’m not surprised. That’s what we do.” Johnston was making the trip to Kansas with his two young children in a pickup truck hauling a goose-neck trailer filled with large bales of hay.
Early Sunday morning, a few trucks filled the large parking lot at TransFleet. The business, featuring five pull-through bays for the big rigs, had just opened a few days earlier, giving truckers a perfect venue to pull their rigs inside for a free check-up and minor maintenance. By midday, the lot was filling up quickly with semi-trucks and pick-up trucks pulling a variety of trailers, filled with hay, fencing material, livestock feed and care packages.
Andy Jahn of Croswell, was one of the organizers of Michigan Convoy II and was thrilled with the response, “We were able to get 10 or so trucks out Friday and another 12 on Saturday. They needed the hay down there bad. We’ll have 55 or more today (Sunday) – so, it’s been a fantastic turnout. I really appreciate everyone for what they have done, whether it is driving or working at the staging. It’s a lot of work but, the most important thing is, we are doing it for the ranchers. They are what is most important, not us.”
While truckers unloaded and re-loaded hay throughout the day, workers inside the huge maintenance facility organized care packages for drivers, sold t-shirts and sweatshirts and served everyone lunch before hitting the road. Throngs of private vehicles arrived to wish the drivers well and family members gave one last hug.
By 2 pm, after 13 more trucks from Tuscola County pulled in to the staging area in an impressive arrival process, drivers received final instructions and began rolling on their new venture. From the maintenance facility on W. Lansing Road, back to I-69, hundreds of people lined the streets like a parade, waving at truckers who blared horns and used their thunderous Jake brakes to make the turn on to M-52. The convoy had plenty of help from law enforcement who blocked traffic and a Michigan State Trooper led the way to the expressway, with lights and siren sounding.
Jahn said the group planned to get to Kansas and Oklahoma late Monday and early Tuesday. Some drivers and family members will stay and offer help to effected ranchers while others will venture back home, knowing they’ve helped out some of their own.
In the meantime, yet another convoy is planned for later this week by the original Michigan Convoy group including Eddie Fahley and Matt Schaller. They have specific requests from ranchers and intend to see those are taken care of. Fahley said the Amish community has also gotten involved, building two sheds and a large chicken coup for a woman who lost hers in the fires. Farmers helping farmers. Nothing else needs to be said.
