December 11, 2002
Meyers establish lasting land legacy
Couple sells Keystone Road farm property to county for use as community park area
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Joe and Bessie Meyer are living a humble life but they are thrilled to leave a living legacy of land to the community.
In September, the couple signed papers transferring ownership of their 95-acre farm to Grand Traverse County, realizing a dream that was more than two years in the making.
The Meyers conceived of the idea of donating their property after watching the soccer games for years on the TBAYS fields, which are located diagonally across Keystone Road from their home. A visit by a TBAYS official following a vandalism incident in 1999 on that property cemented the idea: give the land to the community so future generations could enjoy it as much as they did.
"It is good to see the land open," Meyer said. "You can see the trees and the hills rather than buildings or development."
More than two years of negotiations and fundraising followed.
Prime development land in a booming township, the $1.2 million purchase price was covered by a variety of sources. A grant from the Department of Natural Resources Trust Fund contributed $786,000; the local community matched with $442,000, including $70,000 from Garfield Township and a sizable contribution from the Oleson Foundation.
With the deal finalized, county officials will spend the winter planning the best way to use the land, consulting with Meyer along the way. Meyer donated half of the purchase price back into a foundation that will fund the property's development.
"Joe and Bessie really enjoy watching the kids; instead of raising crops, they are raising kids over there," said Tim Schreiner, director of parks and recreation for Grand Traverse County.
The property also includes 1,951 feet of frontage on the Boardman River, giving the county frontage all the way around Sabin Pond. This piece has great potential for this property, linking the existing nature preserves in a loop trail and providing potential for education and nature study, possibly even a farming museum.
The final component of the Meyer property includes a 40-acre parcel behind the current TBAYS fields, which is slated for nature trails.
"I want the community to know how lucky it is, the community owes so much to these folks," Schreiner said. "First of all for allowing us to purchase the property and second for donating half of the sale price into a development fund that will be used by the county and TBAYS for the soccer fields."
"It would be like if I sold my house to you and then said, 'By the way, here's half the money back so you can build a garage with it,'" Schreiner noted.
Continuing their generosity, the Meyers dispersed most of the remaining funds left after taxes to their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
They continue to live quietly on their homestead as part of the arrangement allows the couple, who are approaching their 70th wedding anniversary, to live out their lives in their home. This life estate also includes the house and barns.
"This is still their home, but it is in the middle of a public park, that is a rarity," Schreiner said.
Meyer is a native of Oklahoma; he and his family moved to Traverse City in 1924 when he was 12 years old. They purchased the farm and shortly after that his father died of cancer. His older brother, who was 12 years his senior, was accidentally electrocuted six months later, leaving Meyer and his mother to run the farm. They auctioned off most of the farm equipment and livestock, keeping the land and four cows plus chickens and pigs.
"We were a one-horse farm, we had a horse and buggy," recalled Meyer. "I was too young to drive our Model T Ford."
With the help of neighbors and friends, the two held on. Meyer attended Sabin School, a one-room schoolhouse until he graduated from the eighth-grade, one year helping clean the building for $3 a month. His mother died when he was 17, but Meyer again kept the land, barely surviving on milk, eggs and fish caught in the Boardman River
He married his wife, Bessie, in April of 1933 at the beginning of the Great Depression. The two set out to make a living from the farm and welcomed the birth of their two sons. By 1941, Meyer took a position at the Traverse City State Hospital, working there for the next 30 years. Bessie also worked there after their sons were older.
'Farming was slim picking, we were back on our taxes three years and took out a mortgage of $350," said Meyer, who grew potatoes for a cash crop and had a small cherry orchard. "Eight years later I paid that off, it was hard sledding."
Through it all, a deep abiding love of the land continued to grow. Having retired in 1971 from both farming and the State Hospital, the Meyers have traveled to many other locales, including Hawaii, Alaska and California.
"What we have here is better than anything on Earth, as far as we're concerned," Meyer said. "We both feel that this land, being open space and the privilege of being able to live here for whatever time we have left, is enough."