Growing up poor on a farm taught work ethic
Published 9:20 am Wednesday, January 27, 2010
There’s an old cliché that says “ordinary people can do extraordinary things” and Don Draayer can’t stop saying it.
That’s because he believes it exemplifies the American dream, his story, told through his autobiography “A Journey of Thanksgiving: Lifetime of Learning, Leading and Looking Back.”
Draayer, a 1953 graduate of Albert Lea High School, hasn’t always used clichés, though. In fact, growing up poor in Hollandale, the only things he overused were his hands, weeding vegetables on his family’s farm.
With his mother and grandmother at each side of him, Draayer recalled working in the onion fields with migrant workers at 5 years old.
“My mother would tell me, ‘Don’t miss a weed because we’re an example,’” he said. “The work ethic was put into me with a sledge hammer.”
Now, 70 years later, Draayer is sharing his story of the American dream fulfilled, which says “in America, the great are ordinary and the ordinary are great.”
After a professional life of 52 years, Draayer felt he had a lot to share. As a lifelong educator he wanted to continue teaching others the values that were put into him at a young age, particularly his grandchildren.
“The autobiography was prompted in a large part by my own children telling me that oral history gets lost when people pass it on,” he said. “When it’s in writing, the whole story will be available to my grandchildren.”
And that was the spur under his saddle to get going. Over the next four years, Draayer began compiling thoughts and reflections on his life, making discoveries along the way.
“It became clear to me that my whole life has been a story of thanksgiving,” he said. “First for my parents and relatives, then for Albert Lea — a place that had a big impact on my life.”
Draayer assembled his autobiography into four parts: “Learning,” “Loving,” “Leading” and “Looking Back.”
The first part is about his childhood, growing up poor in rural southern Minnesota and his education in the Albert Lea schools.
Draayer’s grandparents were some of the first Dutch to settle in Hollandale from Iowa, he said, and his parents were the first generation born there.
Three months from being born, Draayer’s parents lost their first crop of potatoes to flooding and had to wait all winter to plant again.
“I was born to a family that was destitute,” he said. “I became aware at how vulnerable farming was and that everything is in God’s hands.”
Years later, at Albert Lea High School, Draayer encountered a teacher who would influence the course of his life, Sybil Yates.
“Miss Yates took me aside one day and said, ‘You read a lot of books about sailing and pirates, but every now and then you should pick one of my list of books,’” he said. “Her books were about the world at large and helped me move to the other side of the mountain. I credit ALHS and Miss Yates for directing me on that light.”
“Loving” is about the transitions in Draayer’s life: new adventures, marriage and the spirit of giving. During these years Draayer would meet his wife in Battle Creek, Mich. The two then moved to Japan, where Draayer spent four years teaching military children and working in school administration.
“Leading” is about Draayer’s professional life in education and the opportunities he had to give back to the communities that shaped him.
“I’ve been very blessed and thankful to work in education,” he said.
For his work during the 1990-1991 school year, while superintending Minnetonka Public Schools, Draayer won National Superintendent of the Year and was able to award a $10,000 scholarship to a student at his high school alma mater.
“It was a wonderful thing being able to present that check,” Draayer said. “Everybody wants to give me recognition for this and that, but it’s not so much me but the people who have been with me on this journey.
The final part is “Looking Back.” Draayer is able to reflect and share the wisdom he’s gathered throughout his life.
“I’ve discovered the values that are put into life as a youth play themselves out over and over as an adult,” he said. “Some of the toughest decisions you make in your professional life are greatly influenced by values put into you early in life.”
And Draayer wants to share those thoughts with everyone.
“I wanted this book to be for more people than just my grandkids,” he said. “It’s the story of the American dream.”
“I have seen this American dream come true to thousands of lives from humble beginnings and it comes from the hard work of educators.”