Saturday, March 2, 2024 | Country Acres South • Page 1 PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #278 Madelia, MN 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave Sauk Centre MN 56378
SOUTH H Saturday, March 2, 2024
Focusing FFo ocusing on Today’s Toda d y’s Rural Environment
Volume 2, Edition 19
mushers home call yurt
PHOTO SUBMITTED
Iditarod finisher Ramaker braves nature through race, life BY AMY KYLLO STAFF WRITER
into their home to keep them h company. Their yurt is over 700 FOUNTAIN — When square feet plus a partial musher Damon Ramaker takes loft. Inside, stained wood his family’s Alaskan Huskies in a lattice formation for a run, he is an unexpected supports the outer walls. sight on the roads of Fillmore Above, on the coneCounty. shaped ceiling, wooden “We get a lot of funny rafters wing upward, looks from people,” Damon creating a sun-like said. “A lot of people pull over, formation around the and they’re taking pictures of peak’s central skylight. you as you’re going by just Damon’s first expebecause it’s so peculiar.” riences with sled dogs Damon and his family came when he was a own 13 dogs and participate child on a vacation in in at least one 250-300 mile Alaska. Experience race each year. Four years ago with a yurt did not Damon completed the Iditarod, come until later, a 1,000-mile dog sled race when he and across Alaska, from Anchorage Kylie stayed in to Nome. one during an Back at his residence in anniversary trip. Fountain, Ramaker’s home The Ramakis also an unusual sight. The ers, who grew canvas walls of a yurt form the up in southeast home he and his wife, Kylie Minnesota, share with their three children, moved back to Ruby, Lucy and Walter. the area more The Ramakers keep their than a decade canine athletes in individuago after a stint al dog houses in their large, living in the outdoor kennel area. They also Twin Cities. like to bring a few at a time They became
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Publications bli ti The newspaper of today is the history of tomorrow.
connected with musher Cindy Gallea. W When Damon was not working at a his full-time job at the Mayo Clinic, he worked for Gallea as a handler. “We got inundated to the sport of mushing and really started tto understand what racing was really all about,” Damon said. The Ramakers began experimenting with mushing using the three dogs that they had. From there, they expanded their kennel and their experience. In 2020, Damon completed the Iditarod. He
is not currently planning to do another. “I would love to do it again,” Damon said. “But, the effort to get even (to the starting point) was tremendous, and there’s a lot of sacrifices made.” Damon said preparing for Iditarod starts about three or four years before the actual race. He started by building a team and qualifying.
Ramaker page 2
(Above) Kylie and Damon Ramaker share a moment at the 2020 Iditarod in Alaska. The Ramakers’ goal was for Damon to finish. He was successful in spite of being stopped by a snow storm for 36 hours with 11 teams at the town of Elim. PHOTO SUBMITTED (INSET LEFT ABOVE)
Several dog sled teams, including the Ramakers, stand in the sunshine during the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon in January 2023. Damon Ramaker placed seventh in the 120mile race. PHOTO BY AMY KYLLO
(Below) The Ramakers’ yurt stands Feb. 5 at their homesite near Fountain. The Ramakers began living in the yurt around 2016.
This month in the
COUNTRY:
Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on April 6, 2024
5
Finding balance Amy Kyllo column
10 Farming methods that suit him best Ridgeway
6
An international equestrian 14 Pottery as a canvas Marion Wabasha
18 Trimming himself another career St. Charles 21 Early tree tapping Eyota