1977
1977 marked the debut of Mel and Chris' German Shorthair Pointer, Gunnar. In April, Rog landed a job teaching mentally gifted students in three different school districts. Significant new summertime events were the purchase of the "new-old" truck, 10,000 tomato plants, shoveling a lot of manure, building the deck in front of the dining hall, and the building and running of the first Monkey Climb booth at the Perry County Fair. Beyond the six partners, the only hired hands were Kevin Hortens (a former student of Chris and Rog's from Irvington) and Joan Gallub.
In the fall, Susan joined Mel at the Farm Show, the first woman anyone knew of to work on the custodial staff.