Harold Mellenthin, at left, greeted guests at an open-house celebration at the family farm Saturday. At 100, Mellenthin still lives on the farm place where he was born. Now, six generations of Mellenthins have lived and farmed in Lyon County, he said.

Harold Mellenthin’s connections to rural Lyon County go back a long way. He was born on the family farm west of Marshall in 1925, and he’s lived most of his 100 years in the area.

“It’s my life, and it was an interesting life,” Mellenthin said last week.

On Saturday, a crowd of people gathered at the Mellenthin farm in honor of Harold’s 100th birthday. Harold was busy greeting friends, neighbors and family as they arrived.

“I’ve got a story for every one of them,” he said. “It’s such a joy to see them all.”

Friends and family members said Harold is known for the memories he shares.

“He’s the neighborhood historian, is what he is,” Francis Maeyaert said.

“I learn a lot from him,” said Harold’s great-grandson Chase Mellenthin. Chase said he likes to visit and hear Harold’s stories.

Saturday’s celebration wasn’t only a birthday party. Mellenthin asked that the event also focus on the six generations of the Mellenthin family who have lived and farmed in the area. A display at the celebration included family photos down through the years, and even documents like deeds for farmland from the Winona and St. Peter Railroad Company.

“It’s 147 years that the family has been on the farm,” Mellenthin said. The farm in Lynd Township was settled by Harold’s grandfather Fred Mellenthin and Fred’s brother August in 1879. Over the years, part of Fred’s farmland passed to his son Ernest, and then to Harold, and Harold’s son Jon.

Harold and his siblings grew up doing farm chores, and attending country school. Later, he would ride the bus to attend class in Lynd.

“I figure I had as good an education as any,” he said.

“We had a different life, to some extent,” Mellenthin said. At that time, farm families tended to raise more of their own food. “We had eggs, milk, we butchered a hog in winter,” he said. “We were part of that.”

In his lifetime, Mellenthin said he had seen difficult times come and go for farmers in southwest Minnesota. When he was growing, up, years of drought and the Great Depression both hit area farms hard. In the early 1930s, crop prices dropped, and at times, Mellenthin said, “You couldn’t even sell corn.”

Dust storms also had an impact on the area. “There was enough dirt in the air that, on the porch, I could run my little (toy) tractor in the dirt,” he said.

Harold graduated from Lynd High School in 1943. “After he graduated, he said, “Farming was the name of the game. My folks were here.”

In the 1950s, Harold’s parents decided to move to town, and Harold and his wife Elaine took over the farm. Harold served in the National Guard, and during that Korean War, he said, “I got assigned to the South for training.” He was sent from Minnesota, down to Alabama.

After his National Guard service, Mellenthin returned to farming. He said he and Elaine had 62 “real happy years” together, he said. With a growing family, he needed to look for outside work in addition to farming. That led Harold to a job with the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service. He also served as a soil conservation district coordinator in Lyon County for 22 years.

“I never regretted it, because of all the good farmer friends I’ve met over the years,” he said.

Family has stayed a big part of Harold’s life through the years. Today, he lives on the farm with Jon Mellenthin and Jon’s wife Pat. He shares stories and photos with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A lot has changed in farming over the years, Harold Mellenthin said. Ag technology has made a lot of crop data available right in the combine cab. “They know the yield and the test weight and stuff as it comes along,” he said.

At the same time, there are fewer farmers on the land.

“There were a lot more farms, even from here to Marshall,” he said. “Even just a few years ago, there were probably four or five farm places that are not there anymore.”

However, Harold said he was glad to see younger generations still have an interest in farming.

“It’s probably the best life you can have,” he said.