Palmquist Farm

A Visit from Czech

2008-07-28T12:18:00.003-05:00

Greetings from The Farm,

We’ve been enjoying the summer season. I’ve been planting Merry Golds and Geraniums in between catching up with paper work. Ildy, one of our student workers from eastern Europe, is excited about her crop of hot peppers. Jim has been bailing hay and working with the cows, deer, and buffalo. Andy, who drives our team of horses, plowed a field by the road with the team and planted sun flowers. We’ve also hosted a couple reunions and some horse guests.

But the most exciting thing was a visit from a Czech family that worked for us back in the 90’s. We haven’t seen them in many years, so it was a fun reunion. We vacationed with them to Copper Mountain in Colorado. Here is a picture of all of us rafting.

Also, because they have a very successful log building business in Czech, the local newspaper wrote a story about their visit.

Click here to read it.

We hope your summer is going well, and come see us at The Farm.

Helen & Jim Palmquist

Horse Clinic In July at Palmquist Farm

2008-06-09T13:11:00.001-05:00

Jack Lieser, professional horse trainer and instructor, will present a 4-day horse clinic called Northwoods Challenge July 24-27 at Palmquist Farm. The clinic will cover the following topics:

• cantering

• stopping the horse

• building confidence at the higher gaits

• transitioning

• performing lead changes

• learning the counter canter

Jack plans to divide into teams, play games, and have a scavenger hunt. This is a fun way for you and your horse to learn together.

For more information, please contact Helen or Jim (1.800.519.2558, www.palmquistfarm.com, N 5136 River Road Brantwood, WI 54514, palmquistfarm@centurytel.net)

Sarah (www.jacklieser.com)

Celebrate Midsummer Juhannus at Palmquist Farm June 20-22

2008-04-06T12:14:00.002-05:00

Each year, Palmquist Farm, who has a rich Finnish heritage that is still celebrated today, hosts a Midsummer Celebration that includes:

-2 nights lodging (cozy cabins with fireplaces)
-Finnish baking demonstration by owner Helen Palmquist
-Presentation by owner Jim Palmquist about The Farm’s Finnish history(you are encouraged to bring Finnish family pictures & stories to share)
-Hay ride to view The Farm’s nature, exotic deer & buffalo ending at local winery for wine tasting
-Traditional Finnish Meals
-Use of our wood-burning sauna
-Knox Creek Heritage Scandinavian Dinner (5 miles from The Farm)

Knox Creek Heritage Dinner Includes:
-Traditional Scandinavian food
-Midsummer decorations
-Open exhibits*
-Music
-May Pole

*The Knox Creek Heritage Center, an affiliate of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, is composed of five buildings (a turn-of-the-century farmstead) representing several ethnic groups in southeastern Price County: the Main Farm House, circa 1900, a summer kitchen building, the Keto House (depicts a typical logging camp from the 1800’s, complete with kitchen and bunkroom), circa 1900, Spirit Baptist Church, circa 1890, the Waahto Sauna built in the early 1900s, moved to the site and restored, and a pole shed. All the buildings on the site are used to display artifacts, documents, photographs, and other memorabilia that represent the cultural, ethnic, and historical aspect of past eras.

Please join us for this unique weekend!

We Still Have Snow!

2008-03-04T09:44:00.002-06:00

The snow is just beautiful! We now have a 20-30" base and just got 3 inches of new snow yesterday. The trail conditions are still very good as we have had below freezing temperatures that have kept a good quality of snow. Our fifteen day forecast is for highs in the 20's so we should keep these conditions for a while yet. If you still would like to enjoy some wonderful winter activitiesjust e-mail or call us as we have plenty of space available at this time of year and would love to see you!

Helen& Jim

Two young guests solve the Jesse James train robbery treasure hunt at Palmquist Farm.

Trail Report January 2008

2008-01-15T21:50:00.000-06:00

Trails are in very good shape with a 8-10 inch base and 3inches of new snow.

Enjoy a Sleigh Ride at Palmquist Farm

2007-12-29T12:38:00.000-06:00

Picture yourself with family and friends enjoying a horse-drawn sleigh ride at Palmquist Farm. After your ride, warm up in our log lodge with some hot cocoa or apple cider. Also enjoy our sledding hill and skating pond.

Click here to learn about other winter activites at The Farm.

Click here for rates.

Winter Wonderland at Palmquist Farm

2007-12-25T14:59:00.000-06:00

It's Christmas day, and we have 9 to 12 inches of new snow on top of a 5 inch base. The trail conditions are good to very good. The sledding hill is prime, and the sleigh rides are rockin'. See for yourself and have a Merry Christmas!

Farm Guest Writes about his Time at The Farm

2007-10-08T08:26:00.000-05:00

The following is an article that was written for Silent Sports magazine by Bruce Steinberg, a freelance writer and novelist as well as vacationer of Palmquist Farm.

“So—do you do striding or skating?”

This was a question Jim Palmquist asked me in earnest while I made my family’s reservations last winter for Palmquists The Farm in Brantwood Wisconsin. Chicago-suburbia born and raised, I couldn’t keep from thinking about Joliet Jake’s confusion over that country-or-western demand imposed on his blues band. Jim clarified things.

“I like to know ahead of time,” he said, “so I can groom the trails for you.”

“Groom your trails -- for me?”

“For your family. So, striding or skating?”

“Both for me,” I said. “Striding and snow-shoeing for my wife. Our son’s 5 and mostly likes to make snowballs into snowmen.”

“Okay then,” Jim replied evenly, as if he were taking notes.

December’s pounding of early snow had been decimated by warmer temperatures by the time our trip arrived in early January. We drove up I-90 out of Illinois, past Madison, veered right onto Route 51, and it looked as though the only choice we’d be making would be between whining or complaining.

My wife and I frowned out the car windows, witnesses to a sky of thin gray too wimpy to snow, and the barren pale yellow of sleeping grass and long-ago harvested corn stalk stumps. “Is there snow yet?” my 5-year-old asked, as silent-sporters almost everywhere were asking in the winter of 2007. I spied a patch of crust in the highway median, and desperately said yes.
At Wausau, it seemed as though hope was taking a breath, as if the patch of crust I had seen was beginning to breed. Heading the final stretch down Route 8, though, grayness prevailed and the snow we saw made the sound of “Help Me!” as it slowly passed on into water.
In winter, snow beautifies everything. Without it, you get the colors nobody takes out of the Crayola box. The same was initially true at Palmquists The Farm, including the gray-white slush that was left of a ski trail winding past the White Pine chalet we had reserved. But there were hints even then that The Farm stood defiant. First there was the huge, well-kept barn that stood brightly red and attractive near the entrance. Then there were the bright smiles of owners Jim and his wife Helen. Most striking, however, was that same earnest sound I had heard in Jim’s voice when I made the reservation. “We’ll take care of you.”

Before our son was born, my wife and I had done our share of traveling to places both near and far. It has been our experience, one I’m sure most people have shared, that every once in a while, some act of kindness or extra attention by a resort staffer or owner makes a trip special or extra memorable, and it happened at Palmquists The Farm over and over.
The first full day, I was set to skate-ski at 6 a.m., determined to find out whether yesterday’s melt-off had turned to ski-able crust in the morning’s cold. A sledding hill outside the door was rendered closed by the unsafe and closed skating lake at its base. I had to hike over and past this hill and another rise, and leap over a rivulet of melt, through a path in the woods where lumpy iced snow made me teeter about and my ski bases fear for their future. Then I found it.
Groomed snow. Corduroyed, even, and very ski-able. The sight of it left me wondering how this had happened. All of a sudden I was skiing on fast, winding trails where I had never been before, along an embracing trail of pines passing by creeks, small lakes, and wildlife, along flats with mild rises and falls, until I reached a lighted trail and came face to face with a hill that had absolutely no snow. I turned around, figuring these two or three kilometers were all I had, and skied back to repeat and pretend that the ski-able trail wasn’t so limited. Then I heard the noise. A snowmobile’s engine. And I discovered that my tracks were gone and replaced by new corduroy. Soon a man driving a snowmobile pulling a groomer met me at a T-intersection in the trail. It was Jim.

“Been looking for you,” he said. “You seem to know what you’re doing on those skis. Follow me.”
For the next hour, I skied behind Jim Palmquist, owner of Palmquists The Farm, son of Toine and Art who ran the place before they got too old and then passed. Jim and Helen, longtime hosts and caretakers of The Farm, took over to operate this land that the family has owned since the late 1800s. Yet time hadn’t worn at their enthusiasm. Suddenly, this skier who was barely holding on to his second-wave Birkie bib had his own, personal groomer.

Jim showed me the shortcuts and the secrets of skiing at The Farm when snowfall is weak in the area, to trails with snow that survived and were close to pristine because he had groomed them – for me. Twenty miles of it, although, Jim said, some weren’t very groom-able just then and striding tracks were not possible to set. Still, he took me to places where he knew the skiing was good, and understood about crust skiing and what was possible. He guided me to a herd of buffalo – that’s right, buffalo, and a deer farm where I had to pop off my skis, make my way through a special gate, to more kilometers of skiing where the snow was supposed to be icy and lumped, but had been groomed smooth. Again, for me. Even the purple sunsets felt specially ordered.

At the time, Jim and Helen Palmquist had no idea that I had begun to write a regular column for Silent Sports. They gave me no special favors beyond the special favors they give to all their guests. I knew when I got back home, that I would ask Joel Patenaude if I could tell you all about this gem-- not just the place, but the people that make Palmquists The Farm special.
“Jim built most of the hills on the trails many years ago,” Rita and Mike Shores of Mountain, Wisconsin, told me. Rita and Mike are a married couple of, let’s just say, many years, but who are youthful at heart and deed. They sat with my family and another married couple from Chicago with two teenaged daughters at our meals in The Palmquists Farm main house. “He literally took his equipment and built the hills. Not many or huge like the ones at Minocqua Winter Park or ABR, but nice for the kids to play on, and for some good rolling ski trails. Jim also put in the lighted trails some years ago so families can ski after dinner.”

Rita and Mike have vacationed at Palmquists The Farm nine times, and note that there are so many positives that world travelers find themselves drawn to The Farm for return trips. “This is not your fancy Lake Tahoe resort,” Mike says. “The rooms are attractive and well-attended, but what you get is a place that exists to remind all who come of what it was like to roam safely wherever you wanted to go, to explore at your own pace.”

The Palmquists themselves have been known to run a seminar on farm vacations. “You have to like people to go into this business,” Jim explained. “It’s as simple as the difference between friendly service versus service that feels like an imposition. Whether it’s at a hardware store or at The Farm, friendly service brings you back.”

Indeed Jim sits with his guests for meals, and Helen welcomes company while she and her crew prepare meals that are best described by Mike Shores: “Palmquists The Farm is one place I can ski ski ski, and still put on weight.” I would note, though, that Helen prepares meals to take care of the hearty meat-eaters, the vegetarian, the dessert aficionados, and the picky-eater child. Rita agreed with Mike that the highlight of their stay at The Farm is their interaction with people from across the country, who often meet as a halfway point between St. Paul and Chicago, to people who come from as far away as Europe.
But what about the skiing?

I’m a huge fan of Minocqua Winter Park, and drool at the thought of skiing River Run. ABR is out-of-this world fantastic, and having the expanse of the Birkie Trail to yourself is mind-blowing. These compliments to other trails also come from Helen and Jim, who are modest about their trails. They offer up that Winter Park is more challenging and only half an hour away, that Timm’s Hill is 12 miles away and offers great climbs. But allow me to be the critic here – when it comes to family and cross-country skiing, Palmquists The Farm cannot be beat.
Consider, for example, the interest level of skiing in your family. Perhaps the wife or husband is the avid skier, but not both. And the children are not quite into it. With most every other place, even after you settle into your hotel, cabin, or bed and breakfast, you then have to load up the car again with equipment, and travel each day to the ski trails, unpack and gather in limited or crowded warming buildings or chalets, then set out. Dad may want to ski hard for hours. Mom maybe for one hour. The son gets bored, the daughter gets cold, and everybody’s idea as to when to leave is far apart by hours.

But with The Farm, the trails run right along your door. Yes, the trails are not as challenging as Winter Park’s, but they do have some hills, and they are not wanting for beauty. You can pack on the miles without repeating your route, and if you prefer skating or striding, Jim will go out of his way to set the trails for you in advance, complete with a full piston bully groomer when conditions permit. There are a few challenging hills, and if you follow Jim’s instructions, you’ll find yourself on an appropriately named trail called Snowsnake that takes a back seat to no other trail for pure enjoyment.

The main thing, the fantastic fact, about skiing and Palmquists The Farm, is that after nearly three hours of hard skiing, I skied right up to my chalet door. There I found my wife and son engaged in full laughter, building snowmen. They went out snowshoeing from our door (bring your own or you can rent from the Palmquists). We watched Belgian draft horses (Pat and Pete, about the size of Clydesdales) get shoed, and then went out on a bell-jingling sleigh ride under blankets, through the countryside, to the buffalo, streams, and the most scenic aspects of The Farm. In better winter weather, there’s ice-skating and sledding, and no need to travel to get to any of it. You see, once you unpack, there’s no re-packing to get to the trails, nor a need to coordinate varied interest levels. It’s all there out your front door to satisfy each vacationer’s wants, to get back to that roaring fireplace at each vacationer’s pace.
And how many places encourage you to bring your pet?

Families can bring their own dogs to Palmquists The Farm, whether to ski-jor or not, or if you don’t have your own dog, an incredibly friendly black lab named Otis will keep you company while you ski, and then break your child’s heart when it comes time to leave him behind for home.

Helen noted that one little girl’s family, for her eighth birthday, made reservations at The Farm so she could celebrate with Otis. During my family’s stay, Otis joined my son and me for a ski-pulk ride (also available at The Farm), then came back to our chalet for a few Goldfish Crackers, before falling asleep with his head on our son’s lap.

During our stay, I noted two teenaged girls enthralled with a scavenger hunt cooked up by Helen’s and Jim’s daughter, Anna, who incorporated skiing and snow-shoeing, along with The Farm’s trails and buildings, in a search for a horse stolen by Jesse James. And how easy is it to enthrall teenagers these days? Each year, the treasure hunt changes its theme and adventure, but there is always a prize at the end of the hunt.

The prize for Jim and Helen, as Helen said with ease, is that they enjoy people enjoying The Farm.

It’s always a dangerous thing, I suppose, recommending a place for your traveling dollars. What if, like with music, people disagree? My gut feeling is that avid cross country skiers who are married with children, who may not be so avid about skiing, will still adore ABR, Winter Park, and the like, but will discover The Farm, and the way it and the people there warm over families. Palmquists The Farm, may I suggest, resolves the conflict that sometimes arises between the desire to ski and the desire to spend quality time with the family.

The written word, by the way, cannot do justice to the food and trails as the photographs on display on the Palmquists The Farm web site. Take a look at www.palmquistfarm.com, and you’ll see what I mean.

Bon a petit and bon a peski!

Celebrating Midsummer Juhannus at Palmquist Farm

2007-09-21T16:50:00.000-05:00

The following article appeared in The Finnish American Reporter. We think you might enjoy it.

A surplus of sunshine ushered in summer on Thursday, June 21st. And by the next day, I was celebrating midsummer in little Finland. Well, Midsummer Juhannus at Brantwood, Wisconsin’s Palmquist Farm. The farm’s owners, Jim and Helen Palmquist, hosted a Finnish heritage celebration the weekend of June 22-24. And they warmly welcomed me. Even with German and Norwegian roots.

The Palmquists actually did more than welcome me; they adopted me. Jim claimed me as an honorary Finn, and with the help of Helen and the other guests, he gave me a crash course in being Finnish. I found that to be a true Finn I would need to do three things: eat, laugh, and sing.

In eating and laughing, I naturally fit in with my new family. Helen’s traditional Finnish meals, which included creamed rice with raspberry sauce, oven pancakes with maple syrup, and pulla bread, easily made their way to my stomach, and the guests’ stories and Jim’s jokes kept me entertained. My favorite joke went like this. How can you tell an extraverted Finn from an introverted Finn? Well, the introverted Finn looks at his feet when he talks to you, and the extraverted Finn looks at your feet when he talks to you. I just hoped there wasn’t a way to tell a tone-deaf Finn.

Guest Seppo Palmqvist made it difficult for me to keep my can’t-carry-a-tune secret. The first night I arrived, he handed me and the other guests copies of the lyrics to his favorite Finnish song, “Juhannus on Meillä Herttainen.” When Seppo raised his hands to assume the position of a choir director, I became terrified. Here I couldn’t sing, and I didn’t even know the words. I decided to demonstrate an aspect of the Finnish character— honesty— and warned them about my singing voice. But that didn’t get me off the hook. Seppo offered a great line: “There are no bad voices, only untrained voices.”

While I appreciated the unconditional acceptance, I’m thankful the Midsummer celebration consisted of more than a sing-a-long. Two horses were nice enough to chauffeur me around the farm in a wagon as if I were Laura Ingalls Wilder and not the city girl I am. I got to showcase my hair-braiding ability, developed through the continuous styling of Barbie doll hair as a child, during Helen’s baking demonstration on pulla. At the nearby Knox Creek Heritage Center, five buildings and a diversity of artifacts, documents, and photographs taught me a tangible history lesson. By petting a fur hunting coat and paging through tattered school books, I encountered people from the past.

When I needed some quiet time, there was the wood-burning sauna, which I learned to be a Finnish staple. Guest Ellen Palmqvist compared sitting in the sauna to going to church, both experiences capable of bringing peace and rest. Thankfully, I was warned that too great a desire for peace could leave me a golden brown. Turn me, the baker, into the dough.

The truth is Palmquist Farm charmed me. Now, back in the Twin Cities, I find myself hoping to wake to the sound of croaking bullfrogs rather than blaring alarm clocks. I find myself wanting a morning walk past buffalo and barns instead of cars and condos. I’m a 21-year-old with old-fashioned tendencies, and so the Midsummer Juhannus celebration at the farm definitely agreed with me. I’ll have to make it back for next year’s celebration It was refreshing to be with people who really understand their heritage.

Ai häd a plessnt tuim.
Kari Schuetz, St. Paul, MN

UN Commission retreat held at the Farm

2007-08-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

At the Farm, it is our pleasure to pamper guests. And on July 7, we had the honor of doing so for 15 special Wisconsinites. The Wisconsin Governor’s Commission on the United Nations held its summer meeting/retreat here this year.

The commissioners, representing various student, academic, and civic groups in WI, united in an effort to accomplish three common goals: (1) sponsorship of statewide educational programs about the UN, (2) coordination of Wisconsin’s annual observance of United Nations Day, and (3) expression of and communication about views on issues affecting the UN. Though just recently resurrected by Gov. Jim Doyle, the commission has been in existence since 1959 when Gov. Gaylord Nelson desired to familiarize WI citizens with the UN.

Jim and I thoroughly enjoyed spending a day with the commissioners. And it seems that they enjoyed a day at the Farm as well. Commissioner John Smart of Park Falls, WI wrote:

Helen & Jim --

It's early Monday morning, and I miss my walk around The Farm, greeting the horses, the rabbits and the chickens [oh and you too, Jim!]. I miss sitting in Helen's kitchen with a cup of coffee and talking, while waiting for a terrific breakfast. I'm going to have to come back soon! I've been telling my mother all about it, and now she wants to come and visit you as well.

Thank you so much for a wonderful weekend. I'm sure that I speak for all of our group when I say that we had a wonderful time at your friendly farm home. You can be sure that each of us is already thinking of how we're going to get back to The Farm! And you can also be sure that we'll tell everyone we know what a great place The Farm is for a conference or meeting.

I hope to see you again soon.

John

2006 Ice Man Hunt

2007-08-01T10:05:00.000-05:00

For the past three years, we’ve hosted an American Crossbow Federation hunt in late November/early December called the Ice Man Hunt. And this last year’s hunt ended up as the subject of a feature story in the Winter 2007 issue of Horizontal Bowhunter.

We really enjoyed Daniel Hendricks’ article and photos and think you might too.

He says of the Farm:

“The accommodations are roomy in “The Farm’s” log lodge, and bountiful, country-style meals are served by the friendly staff of Palmquist Farm in their homey, farmhouse kitchen. A constant flow of locals liven up the fellowship with entertaining yarns of the area from years gone by, making the socializing at Palmquist Farm not only enjoyable, but also unforgettable. The feature that keeps us coming back to “The Farm,” however, is the dense woodland that we spend our days in and all the exceptional whitetail deer it holds. The big bucks are there…”

He says of the hunt:

“It’s a great time to spend with other ACF members discussing crossbow hunting opportunities, meeting new and wonderful people and visiting the very remarkable Palmquist Farm. It’s also a great opportunity for a hunter to take home a nice whitetail buck to adorn your den wall.”

Trail Riders Get 50% off stall fees!

2007-05-09T10:44:00.001-05:00

Just book your next stay by June 30th for anytime during the season.

Attention Trail Riders

2007-05-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

On The Farm, the grass is greening and tulips are pushing their way up toward the sun. All of our snow has finally melted, officially catapulting us into our summer season, which means trail riders. Jim and I always enjoy having horses on our farm, so we are excited to start another season.

We have a few improvements to mention:

--The Farm is now equipped with wireless internet in the Farm House.

--We are working hard to create a trail map to help you navigate the 35 miles of trails we have.

--If you have kids or are a kid at heart, we have a Jesse James Gang treasure hunt that was a hit with our winter guests. There are 3 difficulty levels, so 3-year-olds to 50-year-olds are welcome to play. It’s free with your stay, and there’s a prize at the end.

See you at The Farm soon!

What do you like about Palmquist Farm? Anything we can do better?

2007-04-10T12:55:00.000-05:00

This is a Blog going out to all those loyal guests we’ve enjoyed having at our farm over the years. We want to ad guest quotes or testimonials to our website. They can be about anything you love about coming to The Farm. We can't wait to hear your thoughts.

I plan to post one quote on each area of the website. The ones I don’t use may end up in ads or on the Blog. If you are comfortable about sharing what you enjoy about The Farm with us and future guests, please send an e-mail t0 marketing@palmquistfarm.com. Thanks!

Also, we always want to hear about how we can serve you better, so if you have any suggestions about ways we can improve your next visit, please send your comments to marketing@palmquistfarm.com. Thanks!

Finnish American Weekend June 22-24

2007-03-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

This summer, The Farm is hosting a speical Finnish American Weekend. Here's the info on the event.

Celebrate Midsummer Juhannus at Palmquist Farm June 22-24

Palmquist Farm has a rich Finnish heritage that is still celebrated today.

Your Midsummer Celebration Includes
-Traditional Finnish Meals
-Bon Fire back at The Farm
-Use of our wood-burning sauna
-Knox Creek Heritage Scandinavian Dinner (5 miles from The Farm)
-Two nights lodging (cozy cabins with fireplaces)
-Finnish baking demonstration by owner Helen Palmquist
-Hay ride to view The Farm’s nature & buffalo ending at local winery for wine tasting
-Presentation by owner Jim Palmquist about The Farm’s Finnish history
(you are encouraged to bring Finnish family pictures & stories to share)

Knox Creek Heritage Dinner Includes:
-Traditional Scandinavian food
-Midsummer decorations
-Open exhibits*
-Music
-May Pole

*The Knox Creek Heritage Center, an affiliate of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, is composed of five buildings (a turn-of-the-century farmstead) representing several ethnic groups in southeastern Price County: the Main Farm House, circa 1900, a summer kitchen building, the Keto House (depicts a typical logging camp from the 1800’s, complete with kitchen and bunkroom), circa 1900, Spirit Baptist Church, circa 1890, the Waahto Sauna built in the early 1900s, moved to the site and restored, and a pole shed. All the buildings on the site are used to display artifacts, documents, photographs, and other memorabilia that represent the cultural, ethnic, and historical aspect of past eras.

$143/person/all inclusive

We hope to see you then!

Our New E-newsletter

2007-03-14T12:58:00.000-05:00

In the next few months, Palmquist Farm hopes to launch its new e-newsletter program. These e-newsletters will contain recipes, interesting articles about The Farm or other topics, special deals, and contests. If you want to receive our e-newsletter, just send an e-mail to marketing@palmquistfarm.com. Thanks!

A Song about The Farm

2007-03-05T14:55:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of a group of friends from Chicago that have been coming to Palmquist Farm for about 6 years over President's weekend. This year we are honored and delighted to share with you the lovely song about coming to "The Farm" that they wrote, sang, and performed at our Saturday night folk music and talent show. It was really funny! I hope you enjoy reading it, and to that group of ladies, it has been a delight to be your hosts over the years.

Palmquist Song
(To the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”)

Verse 1

Our feet have skied the beauty
That is known as Palmquist Farm
We have tumbled down its pearly slopes
(With just one broken arm!)
We have loosed our fateful belt holes
For the creamed rice it does harm
Eating 2 pounds at a time!

Chorus
Glory Glory Jim and Helen
A hundred years is quite compellin’
We really are so thankful
But your judgment may be slack
‘Cuz our group keeps coming back!

Verse 2

In the quiet of the Tiga Trail
We mooned the frightened deer
We have stacked six bodies on a sled
Yeah—we were fueled by beer
We hurtled toward the skating pond
We scattered in the air
Our tailbones they did crack!

Chorus

Verse 3 (Softer, with feeling)

To the beauty of the Snow Snake
We kidnapped your working dog
We have terrorized the other guests
And just outran the Law
We have searched our minds in therapy
For reason or some cause
It’s due to Men-o-pause!!!

Chorus
(Repeat with marching)

HAHAHA!

Snow Update

2007-02-28T12:22:00.000-06:00

Here's a picture of the trail after this weeks snow fall. We have 4-6 inches of new snow and all trails are open with all the trails last groomed on 2/26/2007. Conditions are very good.

Happy Valentine’s Day

2007-02-14T14:25:00.000-06:00

To all you romantics out there, Happy V-day. We are celebrating at The Farm by making heart-shaped sugar cookies from Helen’s mother’s old recipe. As the pink and white frosting is spread and the sprinkles fall into place, we at The Farm hope that you are enjoying a day full of love and thankfulness for those in your life who are most important. We hope to see all of you soon at The Farm. Bring your loved ones. The snow is great, and the fires are hot.

New Snow, Winter Openings, and Trail Report

2007-01-17T12:40:00.000-06:00

We just wanted to let you know that The Farm still has openings for both weekends and midweek days. With all this new snow and good winter temperatures, the trails and skiing are great, and the scenery is beautiful. So come visit us here at The Farm. We would love to have you join us for a winter getaway!

Trail Report:
We have a 3 inch base with 5 inches of new snow. All our trails are open, packed and groomed. The conditions are good to very good. The last time we groomed was on 1/15/2007. We expect more snow on Wednesday or Thursday.

We Now Offer Free Wireless Internet

2007-01-17T12:32:00.000-06:00

The Farm House is now equipped with free wireless internet for all our guests to use, so when you visit, pull up a chair in front of the fireplace and check your e-mail.

A Guest's Praise

2007-01-10T15:21:00.000-06:00

Dear Helen and Jim,

Before leaving the States tomorrow I wanted to send you this picture and let you know how very much Dana and I enjoyed the weekend at Palmquist Farm. We are already reminiscing over the cozy cabin, the delicious food, the beautiful landscape and, of course, the warmhearted hosts.

I have to admit that I envy Dana for the opportunity to hop on his motorbike for a trip to Northern Wisconsin. However, I'm confident that I'll come back soon and look forward to the next stay at your charming Finnish farm.

Auf Wiedersehen,

Sophie and Dana

New Years Skiing at The Farm

2007-01-02T15:40:00.000-06:00

Hey All

This is Anna, Helen and Jim’s daughter. My husband Adam and I were at The Farm for New Years. The snow had been wonderful, but then the rain followed us from the Twin Cities (where we live) to The Farm. We were so disappointed because we had been looking forward to lots of skiing and sledding. But before we could feel too bad, the rain turned to snow and we got our wish. Here are a couple pictures of us out on the ski trails. As you can see, I’m falling down a hill. We had a great time skiing. I haven’t seen snow this beautiful in a long time.

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Year from The Farm

2007-01-01T13:07:00.000-06:00

As is our tradition, we had a festive New Years Party with traditional polka music, dancing, and bonfire. When we went to the party, it was raining, but when it was time to go outside to light the bonfire, winter had blown in and dumped about 3 or 4 inches of new snow on us. Here are some ski trail and woods shots of our new snow.

More Snow!

2006-12-29T12:01:00.000-06:00

It's snowing heavily as I write this. 80% of the trails are open and we got two inches of new snow a couple days ago. Conditions are good, and we have a 6 to 8 inch base.