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PAGE 10 ALL ABOUT MONTANA MONTANA SENIOR NEWS • JUNE / JULY 2020
Keeping Farm Memories Alive
DORMAN OLSON’S PRIZE-WINNING REPLICAS
Peerless, a village of 80 residents in remote “Before Marilyn passed away five years
BY DIANNA TrOYEr northeastern Montana. “To make a piece ago, we must have sold about 2,000 farm
look realistic, I’d customize it with things toys, including a friend’s collection,” Olson
While raising grain in remote northeast- like hitches, lights, hoses, and railings.” said. “I haven’t sold any since then because
ern Montana, Dorman Olson could never Last year, when he moved to Mackay, she handled all the technology.”
tolerate idleness once his chores were done. Idaho, to be near his son, Olson, brought his The onset of macular degeneration sev-
He channeled his energy and perfectionist favorite pieces with him. In a lighted glass eral years ago has prevented Olson from
personality into building replicas of toy display case in his living room, replicas of making any more replicas.
tractors and other ag equipment for himself John Deere equipment, with the company’s He is among thousands of farm toy
and farm toy collectors worldwide. distinctive green and yellow paint, are collectors nationwide. Ag equipment man-
His meticulous craftsmanship and parked in precise rows on shelves. ufacturers began selling farm toys in the
attention to detail paid off. His 1/16th-scale “It was a good pastime in the evenings,” early 20th century as a way to promote
reproductions won trophies at farm toy Olson said. “My wife, Marilyn, and I didn’t their machinery. In the early 1970s, people
shows, and his eBay customers repeatedly get rich selling them on eBay and at shows, began collecting farm toys as a seri-
ordered from him. but we met a lot of wonderful collectors. We ous hobby, according to collectorsweekly.
“Everything I made was based on even had customers in China.” com. Collectors began organizing shows
machinery I used on the farm,” said Olson, Realizing their children did not have nationwide and established the National
91. He raised wheat and barley for nearly a room in their homes to inherit and display Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville, Iowa in
half century on his 3,000-acre farm near Olson’s vast collection, Marilyn sold most of 1986.
his 800 replicas, some he had handcrafted
and others collected from the local John CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
Deere dealership.
FiresideLanesMT.com
• Senior Bowling Leagues
• Cold Drinks & Hot Machines! HUNTINGTON’S | CONTINUED FrOM PAGE 9 for safety reasons, he should not return to his
• Snack Bar old hometown, and a second mad scramble to
So, against the desires of both Mary and find a nursing home for Bill ensued.
1431 Industrial Ave • Billings • 406-245-3678 Bill, he was moved 300 miles away to north- That scramble was no more successful
eastern Montana. than the previous attempt, and both the nurs-
Then about six ing home and the Billings hospital reluctantly
months ago, Bill had agreed that Bill would have to return to his
an accident where hometown nursing home. Despite the safety
he fell from bed issue, that’s where he lives today.
I am no expert on nursing homes in
Impr ove the quality of your car today! and badly gashed Montana or anywhere else, but I get that
Improve the quality of your car today!
his head. He was
taken to a hospital adequate funding to provide safe and decent
REPAIR | RESTORE | CUSTOMIZE in Billings. While he long-term care is difficult to come by. On
was there, both the that basis, I can understand why nursing
Give us a call nursing home and homes may balk at accepting patients with
406-222-0214 | 908 E Park | Livingston the Billings hospital any neurological disease.
agreed that, again Nevertheless, based on Bill’s sad experi-
ence, the Montana nursing home acceptance
rate for folks with HD is not just abysmally
low, it is ZERO—as in zilch, no way, nothing.
This denial of care may be partially due to
a lack of knowledge about the care needs of
HD patients, but I suspect the denial may be
based more on the recognition that HD strikes
the young who may well live 20 or more years
in their full-care facilities.
Whatever the reasons for denial of care,
Bill has a terrible physical ailment that can
only get worse. In spite of some memory
issues and outbursts of anger at his predica-
ment, his mind still functions logically, and
he understands his situation quite well.
Not only does he understand the grim
future he faces with HD, he also knows that he
is unwelcome at any of the 73 nursing homes
in Montana. This is a nasty double whammy
that is akin to the way lepers were treated in
the Dark Ages.
Surely Montana, the “Last Best Place,”
Montana’s Future is in Your Hands. can do better than this. MSN
Learn how planned giving can help you, your
favorite charities, and your community. You Editor’s Note: May is HD Awareness month. For more
can also save up to $10,000 on your taxes information on the disease, and to find the Long-
Montana’s Future is in Your Hands.
with the Montana Endowment Tax Credit. Term Care Guide for Huntington’s Disease, visit the
www.mtcf.org • 406.443.8313 Huntington’s Disease Society of America website: www.
hdsa.org.
