Staff photo by Fritz Busch Farm-City Hub Club founders John Campe, left, and Jim Thomas, right, celebrate the organization’s 50th anniversary at the Royal Oak Event Center Friday. To the right of Campe is his wife Janice. Marilyn Stuckey, the wife of Hub-Club founder Frank Stuckey, is pictured to the left of Thomas.

NEW ULM — Farm-City Hub Club members including founding members, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the organization that promotes agriculture and agri-business at the Royal Oak Event Center Friday.

Co-founder John Campe of Rushford, who owned Klossner State Bank for many years, talked about how the Hub Club began.

“(Former New Ulm businessman) Don Potter and I felt like we weren’t communicating with our rural neighbors like we could have. We thought about creating a group to promote a relationship between farmers and business people so we did,” said Campe.

He said an instrumental event in the history of the club was the New Ulm Municipal Airport expansion project.

“There was tension between farmers, land owners and the City. Don Potter and I visited some farmers and talked to them about it. They said it was nice that we came out and talked to them because they can’t talk back to a letter. We helped smooth things over a little,” Campe said.

He said the Hub Club helped create a better relationship between the City and rural community.

The Hub Club was organized by a group of a dozen agri-businessmen in 1974–Campe, Potter, Jim Thomas, Richard Ginn, Melvin Krzmarzick, Gene Rodewald, Bruce Fenske, William Knopke, Richard Pengilly, Frank Stuckey, Bill Fischer, and Dale Krueger.

The men representing all types of businesses joined together to form what would become the only club of its kind in the nation.

The club now has more than 100 members from New Ulm and the surrounding area and continues to grow. It sponsors a number of events including Family Night on the Dairy Farm in which hundreds of people tour an area dairy farm plus a large farm show in March at the New Ulm Civic Center and a farm breakfast.

“It’s amazing we survived this many years. It was needed then, it’s proved itself and it’s needed now, maybe more so than ever. We’ve got to work together if our small towns are going to survive. We can’t use Amazon all the time,” said Thomas.

Lafayette farmer, auctioneer and realtor Joe Maidl, a former Hub Club president and Service to Agriculture Award winner, said the club means a lot to him.

“It’s a good group. It’s really working out good, getting city and farm people together. We’re getting the word across more and more. We’re growing. We support the FFA, 4-H and other ag organizations. We give ag books to library. We do a lot of good things for the community,” said Maidl.

Retired Nuvera Communications Board Chairman Perry Meyer who farms near New Ulm said the group “is a great channel to meet some of the New Ulm business people on a social basis. It’s a great organization to be a part of.”

Minnesota Rep. Paul Torkelson of Hanska said he recently joined the Farm-City Hub Club.

“It’s a really great concept to bring town and country people together. I think it’s more and more important all the time. They have good food too,” said Torkelson.

“It’s one of the best stories ever written. It still isn’t finished,” said Marilyn Stuckey, the wife of the late Frank Stuckey.

Hub Club member Randy Schroeder said the club’s purpose is to call attention of agriculture to the community.

“The main thing we do is educate youth. We provide scholarships to students studying ag-related fields, provide field trip bus transportation, give books to libraries and participate in 4-H and FFA fundraising activities. We have a lot of fun doing it and enjoy each other’s company. Dues are $25 a year, the same as they were 50 years ago. You can do as much or as little as you want with us,” said Schroeder.

For more information, visit https://farmcityhubclub.net.