HOMECOMING HONOR

Paul and Helen Schettler like Walnut, and the community likes them, too. They’ve been chosen as grand marshals to lead off the Walnut Homecoming parade at 10 a.m. today.

“It’s a quiet community, but a nice community,” Schettler said. “If you need anything, all you have to do is ask.”
He learned firsthand how caring the community is back in 1996 when he suffered a heart attack.

“They put on a real good benefit for me,” Schettler said. “That’s something you remember all your life.”

His wife has lived in Walnut all her life, but Schettler lived in St. Paul before they were married.

“I’ve farmed all my life, started when I was 17 and I’m still doing it,” he said. “I’ll probably quit when they plant me up north of town.”

He raises corn, beans, wheat and cattle, and does custom bailing for other farmers.

The Schettlers also raised a big family.

“We raised seven kids here and they all turned out good,” Schettler said.

“I stayed home until 1980 and then I worked at St. Paul with the developmentally disabled for 29 years,” Mrs. Schettler said. “Then I worked at a workshop in St. Paul and retired on Feb. 26. I’m really enjoying it, because I get to go with Paul, and I couldn’t do that when I was working.”

That included a recent motorcycle trip to Niagara Falls and into Canada.

“Our 46th wedding anniversary was Aug. 8, and that’s when we left on our trip,” Mrs. Schettler said. “We went 3,052 miles on a motorcycle.”

She added that she and her husband have also gone to the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., in 2006 and 2008.

“People think Sturgis is just one place, but you’ve also got a lot of canyons to ride, Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse,” Schettler said.

Wherever they travel, Mrs. Schettler looks for ornamental spoons to add to her collection.

“I’ve got about 185 spoons now,” she said.

The couple always ride on secondary roads rather than the interstate highways, and get to see more of the country. In recent years, Schettler has seen some things that disturb him.

“It’s sad to see small farms sitting empty,” he said. “You go by what used to be a nice farmstead, and it’s empty. “It’s the same way in Michigan and Wisconsin. The old farmers retire and the young ones can’t make a go of it on a small farm.”

The couple has seen the same trend much closer to home.

“From here to 47 Highway is five miles, and there used to be six families that lived along that road,” Schettler said.
“Now there’s none left.”

None of the couple’s seven children has chosen to go into farming.

“But they sure learned to work hard when they were kids,” Schettler said.

“One time I was somewhere with one of my daughters and she  punched me. I said, ‘What was that for?’  and she said it was because I made her a workaholic.”

The couple’s children are: Lisa Blair, Girard, who works at the Greenbush Education Service Center; Butch Schettler, Salina, a plumber who also does electrical work and heating/air conditioning; Kenny Schettler, Erie, who owns a sanitation company; Mike Schettler, Girard, employed at FMI; Kathy Wrensch, Carl Junction, Mo., who works at St. John’s Regional Medical Center; Carla Sands, Girard, who owns a beauty shop; and Carol Birks, Waverly Hall, Ga., who works for Calloway Gardens.

“We’ve got 21 grandchildren and almost three great-grandchildren,” Mrs. Schettler said. “There’s one due on Jan. 17.”

She said that she’s excited about being parade grand marshal, and the children are excited too.

“All of our children are going to be here,” Mrs. Schettler said. “Our daughter from Georgia is flying in.”

The Walnut Homecoming started in 1971, in observance of the community’s centennial, and has become a tradition. Schettler worked Thursday on preparations.

“We got the tents at Jake’s and set them up between the rains,” he said.

Numerous activities are planned in addition to the parade, including games and the tractor pull.

“We get people from quite a ways off come to pull tractors,” Schettler said. “On Sunday we’ll have the garden mower tractor pull at 1 p.m. They put V-8 motors on the mowers and they go like heck.”

He noted that Little Balkans Days will be going on in Pittsburg at the same time as the activities in Walnut.

“We can’t compete against Pittsburg,” Schettler said, “but we have our own party. I wouldn’t trade this life out here for anything.”