(La Porte, IN) - Over $28,000 was raised from a silent auction last night in La Porte to help fund construction of a new Farm Bureau milk cabin at Pioneer Land. 

 

Many of the items up for bidding were donated gift cards for as much as $1,000 from businesses affiliated with agriculture like Kingsbury Elevator and Heinold Feller Tire in LaCrosse.

 

There were also individual donations of IPads, meat, candles, coffee machines and other merchandise  for the auction along with monetary contributions for as much as $500.

 

The auction was part of the annual meeting of the La Porte County branch of Indiana Farm Bureau. 

 

La Porte County Farm Bureau President Mark Parkman said he was pleased with the support during the auction from the over 100 members of Farm Bureau, elected officials and other people in attendance.

 

“I’m kind of surprised but we were hoping for that,” Parkman said.

 

Parkman said the new milk cabin to cost about $110,000 will be made with real timber logs so the look fits in better with the 1830’s style village, which consists of more than a dozen buildings at the fairgrounds.

 

It will be similar in size and go into the space now occupied by the more modern looking cabin where milk is sold at 10 cents a glass when Pioneer Land is open during the fair.

 

Parkman said the cabin has been there since 2000 and has maintenance issues like wood rotting around all of the windows.

 

He said no decision has been made on the future of the cabin, which could be torn down, sold or dismantled for parts to be used for maintaining other Pioneer Land structures.

 

Parkman said the plan is to have the new cabin built in time for the 2025 fair.