Saturday, November 2, 2024 | Country Acres • Page 1
Country Acres Saturday, November 2, 2024
Volume 11, Edition 16
“
PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #861 Sauk Rapids, MN 2 Second Ave S Suite 135 Sauk Rapids MN 56379
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
I’ll walk to the end” with you
PHOTOS BY BEN SONNEK
was named. He was a carpenter in Salzer carves canes for fellow veterans Joe Germany in the 1800s, and when he BY BEN SONNEK STAFF WRITER
AVON — A wide variety of canes line the walls of Joe Salzer’s workshop north of Avon.
Every piece of carved wood is as unique as the tree from which it was cut. Every cane has a window for a coin, and, for veterans, every stick is free. “I mainly just give (canes) away,” Salzer said. “Every time I see a veteran with a Vietnam vet hat on, I go up to him, talk to him, shake his hand and say, ‘From one veteran to another, I’ll walk with you to the end … until you can’t walk any-
more.’” Salzer’s interest in woodworking goes back to his grandfather, Joseph Salzer, for whom
immigrated to the United States, he brought a cane he made. Salzer still has that cane today. Raised in Cold Spring as part of a family of 12, Salzer graduated from St. Boniface High School in 1966 and was drafted into the Army right afterward. He did basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, and was deployed to Vietnam. Salzer worked with a transportation unit and support unit of the 25th and Ninth Infantries, where he covered the area from Saigon to the Cambodian border. He saw a lot of action, including the 1967-8 Tet Offensive during the peak of the war. “I didn’t get wounded at all, but I got jungle rot and a bunch of other stuff — (post-traumatic stress disorder) and a lot of Agent Orange,” Salzer said. “A lot of my buddies passed away from it already.” After a year overseas, Salzer returned to Minnesota and married Donna Meyer in 1969. They lived
Joe Salzer shows off his finished canes hanging on his shop wall Oct. 21 north of Avon. Salzer has made canes since the 1980s and gives them to veterans.
next to Pleasant Lake until moving to their current home in 2010. They had bought the land in 1996, and Salzer built most of the house himself. While living on Pleasant Lake, a neighbor got Salzer interested in carving, and he started making canes in the 1980s. Because of his service in Vietnam, he wanted to give something back to the military, so he made canes specifically for veterans. After breakfast every morning, Salzer goes to his workshop to strip the bark off branches that have dried
Salzer page 2
Joe Salzer shows the coins and military decorations in one of his personal canes Oct. 21 in his shop north of Avon. Salzer served in Vietnam in 1967-1968 and was involved in the Tet Offensive.
ST R
Publications The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
This month in the
COUNTRY: Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on November 16, 2024
5
Finding a passion Kerkhoven
11 Art and science Alexandria
7
Jumping in leaves Tiffany Klaphake column
15 Habitat for hunting Minnesota 18 Across the acres Veterans Day Q&A
19 Country cooking Miltona 21 From start to finish Miltona