Oak Tree Farms – South Dakota

Last week I was fortunate enough to spend some time with the leadership of Oak Tree Farms. It is a privately owned, working farm covering 8,000 acres near Clark, South Dakota, which also includes a very posh hunting lodge – for those who are
pheasant hunters (and other critters, but their specialty is pheasant). While I was there, there was much more snow than in the picture to the left – beautiful, majestic sweep of land, complete with its own lake – a big one. They even have their own hunting dogs – 22 of them. My favorite was a black Labrador named Grizz – he fits his name.

My purpose for going there was to do some team building and strategizing – getting the lessons learned from the last busy season (both farming and hunting) and also planning ahead for the next busy season. I loved working with Bill Makens, Michael and Alissa Makens (3 of the family owners), Barry and Nicole Threadgold (the managers of the farm/hunting and the lodge respectively) and cousins to the owners, Brad Vail (the dog wizard and kennel keeper), and Sandy (the kitchen magician). It is, literally and figuratively, a family-run outfit. And that is what they are committed to maintain – the 'feel' of family. The lodge itself makes that easy, as it is warm (several fire places) and spacious at the same time – posh and comfortable. 

So two days of working with people who have passion for what they do – my idea of a vacation!  It's so much easier to work with people who have fire in their belly, than it is to work with people who numb out in order to go to work. As Ann Barnett (my friend and mentor) used to say, "It's easier to tame a barracuda, than it is to pump life into a dead fish." (Not that I was dealing with barracudas at Oak Tree Farms!)

It's a beautiful place to BE.