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Walter Frahm is Michigan's newest Hall of Famer.
The Frankenmuth Township dairy and cash crop farmer and his wife,
Sally, were inducted Friday into the Michigan Farmers' Hall of Fame
in Delton, a small town south of Grand Rapids.
The Frahms are the only Saginaw County inductees this year and
the 12th from the county in the Hall's 18-year history.
Michigan is the only state with a hall of fame for farmers, said
Ralph Frederick, a retired Hemlock dairy farmer who serves on the
Hall's selection committee.
"He's farmed all his life and he's done several things for
the state and community," Frederick said.
Frahm grew soybeans, wheat, sugar beets, corn and navy beans.
Frederick pointed to Frahm's 24 years on the Frankenmuth Board of
Education, his eight years on the Saginaw County Board of
Commissioners and his 17 years on the Michigan Farm Bureau Board of
Directors as accomplishments that sealed the nomination.
"He (doesn't) feel as though he deserves credit for all of
that even though he's done it," Frederick said. "Farmers
are that way."
Frahm was instrumental in expanding the veterinary science
program at Michigan State Univer sity. He was part of the successful
lobbying effort for a state farmland preservation package.
In 1977, he earned the Distinguished Service Award from MSU.
"I have never done some of these things to try to get
publicity," Frahm said. "I've done things that I thought
needed to be done for the good of agriculture."
Frahm, 72, is retired but still handles most of the plowing
duties on his son's Frankenmuth Township farm. At one time, Frahm
farmed nearly 500 acres and maintained 120 dairy cows.
For the last three years, Frahm has taken a couple of cows to the
State Fair in Wayne County to give city children - and some adults,
too - a chance to try milking.
Frederick said the Hall of Fame's tradition is to induct couples.
"We figure the wife has a great part in the farming
operation, too," he said. "It isn't just the man."
"He hauled the cows; I hauled the kids," laughed Sally
Frahm, 74, who is a retired registered nurse.
They will celebrate their 51st anniversary in October. They have
five children.
Ken Sowles, chairman of the Hall's selection committee, said the
couple's picture will hang in the Farmers' Hall of Fame with a short
history of their accomplishments.
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