*The Learch Farm is detailed in my blog "A Lucky Shot"
Wife Margaret and daughter Margaret continued to live on the Learch Farm for 20 more years before moving in with mom and dad in their home in Rochester, MN in 1975 The two Margaret's followed mom and dad when they moved to Byron, MN (located between Kasson and Rochester) in 1979.
Andrew's wife Margaret died in 1991, living to be 104! Dad and Daughter Margaret died in the summer of 1993 at ages 82 and 77 respectively. There must have been some sort of spiritual connection between the two siblings because Margaret died just two months after dad. Mom died in 2004 at age 86.
After laying this ground work, I can now get to the story about sawing down the barn.
Since Grandma Margaret and her daughter (my aunt) Margaret would be vacating the Learch Farm in 1975, Mom and dad and we three boys held Family Trust Meetings beginning in 1972 to discuss what to do with the Learch Farm. It eventually would be sold to developers who would name part of it the "Kubiatowicz Addition".
Thus, in the latter half of th 1970's we were responsible for razing the farm buildings to make way for the developers. Always thinking economically and with profit in mind, someone in the family had the bright idea that the vintage wood in the old barn should be salvaged and sold to home owner(s) who wanted to finish off their basement with rustic-looking wood.
Below is a nice old red barn photo that I bought from Dreamstime.com to represent the barn on the Learch property. It's hard for me to believe that I can find no photo of the actual Learch barn when there were so many opportunities to take one!! In my mind's eye, I don't even remember its shape except for the sloped-roof shed attached on the left. The Learch barn had a garage with a door (where the shed is in this photo). It also had a hay loft and door leading into the barn. The front to back of the barn was along an east-west line with the front of the barn east, the sun hitting it first thing in the morning.
© Docbombay | Dreamstime.com
To this end, mom and dad and we three boys, showed up one day at the Learch Farm with at least one (if not more) chain saws, hammers, nail pullers, etc. etc. Your humble blogger took first turn systematically sawing through one or more corner posts while the brothers pitched in for the rest. The sawing was no easy task and the blade soon dulled making the job go slow.
We had the expectation that once the corner posts were severed, a group push on one end would collapse the barn, breaking the 2 x 4's or 2 by 6's between the corner posts as it fell. Once sawing was done however, we realized that there was no way the barn would budge with a simple push. I seem to remember using one of our cars and a rope to assist in the process to no avail.
Looking at the inside structure and at all the 2 by 4's (or 6's) that would need to be cut to to have better success at felling the barn, we lost our desire to saw it down. Instead we would collect as much wood as we could. This idea too, soon fell aside as we discovered the effort required to remove all the nails, even with a manual nail puller, from one length of board to pull it free.
We ended the day, at least having a nice picnic lunch, some heavy sweating and some good laughs. It would be some months, on a very still day that the Owatonna Fire Department would have a challenging fire practice drill.
I remember that in the late 1970's or early 1980's some apartments had been built on the Learch land surrounding where the farm buildings had been. But finally in 1985, the land where the former buildings had stood, would be developed. Mom and Dad summoned, your humble blogger, with son Joe and brother James to help remove some residual trash on June 22, 1985. The whole task took a mere two hours. When we left, only memories remained.... See photos below of our final task:
The Junk including a hand pump from a well!
Dad (Eugene Kubiatowicz)
Mom (Mary Bauman Kubiatowicz)
Dave Kubiatowicz (humble blogger)
Brother James Kubiatowicz and Joe Kubiatowicz (16) humble blogger's son.
In the photo below, a lonely willow tree stands near the place Grandpa Andrew had built a fireplace/grill and where picnics were held. The photo is from our last day there, June 22, 1985. The tree had an enormous trunk and limbs had broken off over the years.
Willow Tree 1985
Picnic by the same (but smaller) willow tree in 1952. Left side: brothers David (humble blogger), Mike, & Jim Kubiatowicz; Grandpa Andrew Kubiatowicz and his daughter, Margaret; Right side: Uncle Martin Kubiatowicz and his wife Frances (Roiger) Kubiatowicz and Dad Eugene Kubiatowicz Mom (Mary Bauman Kubiatowicz) was probably sitting between Eugene and Frances. Andrew's wife Margaret was probably taking the photo. The fireplace/grill is seen at the right. The soda was likely grape and/or strawberry. These were the only two types Grandpa Andrew bought.
A Summer Picnic by the willow tree 1952
