Story and photos by Lisa Carolin
A deluge of rain didn’t detract from the dual celebration at the Doll Farm in Sylvan Township on Sunday, June 14.
Dozens of family members and friends gathered for the 88th birthday of Donald Doll, who has owned the farm since 1962, thus keeping it in the family for 150 years, which was the additional reason for the celebration.
“As long as I’m around, it will be here,” said Donald Doll. “If I hadn’t taken it over from my uncle, it would have been sold.”
The 180-acre farm is located on Heim Road, which during the early years of the farm was the main route from Ann Arbor to Grass Lake. It was purchased by relatives of Doll’s in 1864, and he purchased it from his Uncle Otto Weber in 1962.
The Dolls believe that the farmhouse, which existed on the property when he bought it, was built in the 1850s.
The family received the Centennial Sign in 1964 from The Historical Society of Michigan, which has now given them the 150-year sign, which they unveiled on June 14 as part of the celebration.
Among those there for the celebration were two of Donald’s children, Larry Doll and Betsy Hackworth, who lives on the farm.
“We grew up here,” said Hackworth. “I remember riding on the tractors, bailing hay and climbing down the windmill.”
“We camped all summer everywhere on the farm,” said Larry Doll. “It’s a beautiful tract of land.”
Donald Doll, who spends a lot of his time volunteering at the St. Louis Center, still finds plenty of time to enjoy the farm along with his brother-in-law Ray Lutovsky.
“I’m happy just being alive on the land,” said Donald Doll. “I enjoy mowing the grass and cutting wood.”
The farm appears to have a promising future.
According to Hackworth, “My roots are so deep in the ground here that it would take a bulldozer to get me out!”
