Among the most endearing farmers of the area, widely seen and easily accessible, is Bryan Yonkers, a dairy farmer, whose operating farmstead is just northeast of Kutztown Borough limits along Hottenstein Road.
Affectionately known to mine and other kids as “Farmer Yonkers” in their cute toddler voices, one can witness the soft inner side as he smiles back in response to these kids devoting his full attention to these awed, wide eyed youth at all there is to see on his farm, as others might just see the rugged, tough exterior shell in physical attributes of this man one might not associate with as being anything other than true grit.
One would be remised if they went to the locally popular Quality Shoppe in town for breakfast and missed him, as it seems he’s there every single morning, as that is where I probably first saw him as that was a gathering place for my boss and I to bounce ideas off of over coffee (and milk).
Before this morning break and in between ’til darkness, Farmer Yonkers is hard at work on his 300-acre contemporary farm and 180 heads of cattle he attends to, but come nighttime refuels his appetite at the Kutztown Gun Club, another popular establishment with the outdoorsmen and women contributing his hard earned back to our local economy. Since my family and I frequent both, I have run into him a few times, and over the past few years, he has become a very good friend of the family.
Another local tie, while working diligently on the completion of the Oley Valley Federal Years History Volume, I was astonished in the nonchalant way he told me he is the nephew of Minnie Hoch, a locally famed baker in the Oley Valley area, just as popular, but obviously for different reasons but of the same honorable mold of many PA Dutch found of the East Penn Valley; while I showed old black and white photos to locals for identification.
On my end, he has been invaluable to my understanding of farming practices, and even the Oley Valley landscape, because as a kid he spent time growing up on the well-known John Hoch family farm, and I’m sure as a youth picking up skills of the trade with that same attentiveness he gives to the visiting kids, his own sons, and grandchildren.
I often like to joke with him as it seems people have an animalistic magnetism about him that make these country girls blush and even men take notice. It is not charisma, as he is soft spoken with a somewhat low, gravelly voice, but there is a comfort around when he is near, the people around feel safe and protected. Perhaps it’s his silhouette that reminds us of a righteous cowboy or devout lawman of the Wild West likened to the tall, dark, and handsome phrase with a high ethic code to thwart off evil doers and strong moral servitude to his community. His generosity also doesn’t go unnoticed as I and many others have been on the receiving end in his surplus of corn, straw bales for Halloween, or other supplies he offers to friends and people in places he visits, or admirably people in need.
People just tend to notice him when they walk into a place or at least gravitate towards him out of curiosity. I know my 5-year-old daughter likes to hang on him and my wife is one of those country girls that blush. Me, I just want to hear stories.
Whether I see him off playing cards in the corner or sitting at the bar engaged in small talk enjoying a meal, I am often reminded of Wyatt Earp, perhaps portrayed best in Tombstone, AZ, in running or being the enforcer of his saloon after his Kansas lawman’ days. Earp’s quick wit and keen sense of observation during the late 1800s, allowed him to control the situation and disarm the aggressive patron or party when many times he was unarmed.
In the decade I have known him, I’ve never came across anybody whose made a bad remark about him nor attempted to pick a fight with him or has even become snide rowdy when he’s around. I know, myself included, I’d never want to be on his bad side; but I believe that strong presence or aura he exudes seems to keep everybody in line, laughing, and having a good time.
On the side, in addition to being a versatile and trustworthy farmer, Bryan hauls cattle for other farmers and drives a milk tanker for supplemental income, and on Wednesdays, can be seen helping out fellow farmers at the Leesport Market.
His contemporary farmstead includes 90 head of cattle and another 90 in replacement steers, and the oldest of his four sons has followed the family trade and owns and operates a farm in Rehrersburg, while the other teenage boys remain on the farm as hands, also as friendly as Dad. Growing up as a lad and working on his father’s farm in Maiden Creek Township just west of Kirbyville, his father was friends with well-known John Hoch, and the families intermarried, thus adding to the learned values of hard work, dedication, one’s word, integrity, ingenuity, and a strong moral code. Perhaps this is what makes him so admirable to people; it definitely plays a part in his unique mystique!
Richard L.T. Orth is assistant director of the American Folklife Institute in Kutztown.
