With a substantial collection of vintage farm toys and construction equipment, Bart Jensen has probably amassed just as many friendships through his years of hunting for treasures.
“It’s the people. The last three or four years at Dyersville, I haven’t bought that much stuff. I used to bring two or three boxes of stuff home. Now, I just come down to visit with everybody and catch up with what’s going on,” he said about his attendance at the National Farm Toy Show in Dyersville, Iowa, each year.
Bart has lived in Enumclaw, Wash., all of his life, and still calls the area home. He was born and raised on a small farm, where his family had about 10 acres and a small herd of beef cattle.
“We shipped at least one can of milk to the creamery,” he said with a chuckle.
Growing up, Bart was involved in both 4-H and FFA, showing Bart’s Jersey cattle in competitions. But a weeklong assignment of milking cattle for a neighbor when Bart was a senior in high school soured him on dairy farming.
“I decided dairy farming was not my forte,” he said with a laugh. So, he started college in Vancouver, Wash., with the thought of becoming an ag teacher. But another opportunity came along that changed his career path.