Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
His wish was to ride a combine. He had a certain type in mind.
“The big combines in the big fields,” said Jasper Molanus, 12, of Belgium. It was his wish, and he got it Monday, Aug. 22 in a field across the state line near Tekoa.
Jasper’s desire was granted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which provided the boy, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, a day riding the big combines, as part of four days of farming fun in the Tekoa area for him, his parents and sister.
“Nice, very nice,” Jasper said. His mother, Anita, translated.
It was a wish granting that came together quickly.
After being told in January to keep August open for vacation, the Molanus family waited for further word.
Last week, Leslie Woodfill of the Spokane Make-A-Wish chapter saw a notice from Make-A-Wish International asking if anyone knew of an area with big fields and big combines.
“Of course, I replied,” she said.
Then she made a call Wednesday to her sister’s first husband, Roy Schulz of Tekoa, who was hoping to begin harvest within days.
Woodfill said the boy was coming Friday.
Shulz said his wheat just wasn’t ready, so he called Jack Miller at the Coeur d-Alene Tribal Farm, who thought they might begin harvesting their wheat any day.
All the while, Make-A-Wish arranged for the family to be on a flight out of Amsterdam with accommodations waiting at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane.
On Sunday, the conditions were right and Miller and crew began cutting. Jasper and his family arrived Monday.
When the Molanus family got word about their imminent trip, they were told they were going to Washington. So they diligently got out their maps and looked for the fields around Washington, D.C.
“There was nothing,” said Jasper’s father Wim, before Jasper suggested looking for the name “Washington,” not D.C.
“Texas,” said Anita of the place she’d read about with big fields and big combines.
“Kansas, Oklahoma,” added Jasper.
They hadn’t heard of Washington.
“It’s beautiful, amazing,” said Wim. “Everything is big. Roads, cars. In Belgium if there is a small road, it’s full of cars.” Wim, his wife Anita or their kids had never been to the United States.
Jasper’s interest in combines began early.
When he was two years old, on family car trips, he would call out the names and makes of tractors, John Deere, Case to New Holland.
It was a big red Case that the boy rode in at the tribal farm.
Miller and crew were happy to participate.
“If we can put that much of a shining light in that boy’s life,” indicating the space between his thumb and forefinger, said Miller, “Then it’s worth it.”
Incidentally, Miller’s father’s side of the family came to New York from Holland in the 1700s when it was called New Amsterdam.
The Molanus family is from a Belgian farming town – wheat – of 1,500 people, where Wim is employed by Public Works, mowing canal grass on a John Deere.
There are combines there, just not the big ones.
So far on their American visit, the Molanus’ have seen the Vanderbilt Ranch Wildlife Rehabilitation Facility near Hayden Lake and were in Pullman for the Lentil Festival.
“It’s the magic of a wish,” said Woodfill. “Things just happen.”
Next on their itinerary were baby lambs, seed sampling, a seat on a brand new combine at the John Deere dealer in Tekoa, a ride up the Silver Mountain gondolas and a trip to Steptoe Butte. Much of their trip is being coordinated by Sandy DeHan of the Tekoa Chamber of Commerce.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation, which just celebrated their 30th year, will grant 120 wishes this year in the state region east of the Cascades, Idaho, Canada and Oregon. The average wish costs from $5,000 to $8,000. The foundation is funded by cash donations and many in-kind donations.
All together the big combines and big fields led to another big feature.
“It’s amazing that there’s not just a glow over the horizon from his (Jasper’s) smile,” said Woodfill.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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