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Sauk Rapids Herald

THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2017

A shaɊp shoɇter Bemboom heading to world archery competition BY JENNIFER COYNE STAFF WRITER

GILMAN – With school out for the year, many kids are looking forward to a carefree summer, but not Breyden Bemboom. The 10-year-old from Gilman will spend his summer days practicing archery, with his sites on a grand prize – receiving top honors at the National Archery in School Program (NASP) world tournament. On July 21-22, Breyden will travel with his family to the prestigious competition in Orlando, Fla. “I’m really looking forward to the trip. It will be like a vacation,” said Breyden, who is the son of Shawn and Jennifer Bemboom. Over the last year, the young athlete was a member of the Foley Falcons Archery fourth grade team. After surpassing his competition at regionals and state, Breyden traveled to Louisville, Ky., May 11-13, for the national tournament. Breyden completed the tournament with a Ànal score of 281 – 300 is a perfect score – and 16 tens, commonly referred to as bullseyes. Of the 2,321 elementary students competing at the national tournament, Breyden Ànished the event in 25th place; Àfth out of 827 fourth grade students; and 638 out of the 7,730 middle and high school-aged boys that participated. “I was pretty happy with how I did,” Breyden said. “Last year, I got a score of 271 and this year I did 10 points better. My goal is to get 285 at world…290 would be a lot better.” Breyden’s grandfather, Douglas Foss, agreed. PHOTO BY JENNIFER COYNE

Breyden Bemboom aims his arrow towards the target, while practicing archery at his home in Gilman. Bemboom will be attending a world archery competition July 21-22 in Orlando, Fla.

Come Home Dairy hosts farm tour

“The chances of making it this far are really second to none,” he said. “We’re proud of him.” Breyden Àrst dabbled in archery three years ago, and has been mentored by Foss ever since. “His mom and I wanted Breyden to take on a sport that he could use the rest of his life,” Shawn said. “Maybe he’ll play other sports as he gets older, but this will be a lifelong thing.” Archery was a sport Breyden was familiar with, having been raised bow hunting alongside Foss. “Shooting was a sport option I knew I could do,” Breyden said. “I’ve been bow hunting with Grandpa since I was really little.” Once Breyden enrolled in the school team, it did not take him long to develop a passion and talent for archery. “When he Àrst started shooting, I bet $15 that he couldn’t get a bullseye at 10 and 15 meters…one round cost me $75,” said Foss, laughing. “Then I said if he got a score over 280, I would buy him an over-under shot gun. Breyden easily shot that in Kentucky.” Every competition begins with Àve arrows, one being used for a practice shot. Then, four rounds are shot at 10 meters, followed by another practice round and four rounds at 15 meters. At the national tournament, lining up with 240 other children from across the nation, Breyden shot his Àrst rounds at 48, 50 and 49 – out of a 50 possible points. “It’s just unreal. I could tell by the way he was shooting that his score was going to be high,” Foss said. “But I always tell Breyden that he has to go out there and have a good time; that helps take the pressure off.” In preparation for Breyden’s next competition, he will spend even more time practicing with his grandfather and less time doing chores on his family’s 80-cow dairy farm. Typically, Breyden is responsible for helping

Bemboom: page 2

Learning lessons

BY NATASHA BARBER STAFF WRITER

GILMAN — Braving blustery weather, students from Faith Christian School of Milaca donned their hats, mittens and boots May 18 as they attended a day at Come Home Dairy near Gilman. The farmstead, owned by Amy Kelash and her husband, Randy Strehlo, has been in Kelash’s family since 1893. The two milk 14 cows with help from their children – Abby, 15, Jeb, 14, Josiah, 9, and Trig, 7. The buildings on the 30-acre farm — new or old — are meant to transport visitors to the past and reÁect so in the design. “She hosts this for her kids’ classmates,” said Gretchen Reineccius, who teaches kindergarten and Àrst grade at the school. “The kids always look forward to coming out to learn about dairy farming and because there are so many fun activities to do. It originally started because her kids wanted their classmates to see where they lived. They would tell stories in school about the farm. So Amy just

PHOTO BY NATASHA BARBER

Amy Kelash, of Gilman, tells students from Faith Christian School, of Milaca, about the bulk tank where Come Home Dairy’s milk is stored. She received a “thumbs up” from one student who taste-tested the milk.

decided to host a day, and it morphed into a yearly or bi-yearly thing as each of the kids began school.”

Rubes Sponsored by Fluegge’s Ag

Kelash has been hosting children and community members to the farm for nearly 10 years. She inherited the

property from her parents and enjoys people learning about the dairy and the various old equipment and tools

on the property. “I love kids,” Kelash said. “I didn’t want a big farm and I wanted it to be kid-friendly. I think its good work ethic to get them doing chores. It gets them set up for life by taking responsibility early on.” The kindergarten through Àfth grade students began their adventure on the farm with open play time beginning around 10 a.m. Students were able to pretend in a log cabin playhouse or enjoy themselves on a wooden see-saw, dome-like jungle gym or the family’s homemade zip line. Following a quick snack, the students organized into four groups for a tour of the farm. Kelash brought her group into the parlor room. “This is where the milk comes in and gets cooled. It goes through stainless steel system and gets Àltered,” she said, while opening up the bulk tank. “This is what’s called whole milk. It’s the freshest milk you can get. One of the reasons that is because a lot of times when you buy milk at the store it goes through a lot of pipeline. But right here, it’s pretty fresh. We cool it down just above freezing. There might even be an ice chunk on top.” With the help from school staff, Kelash poured interested students small paper cups of milk. Some of

Kelash: page 3

OVER 20 TEDDERS IN-STOCK READY TO GO!

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