Pat Zubrod displays one of the girls' dresses she made from a wedding dress. She recycles the dresses into christening clothing for children and babies.
Merlyn and Pat Zubrod spend their days in wood and satin
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Pat Zubrod displays one of the girls' dresses she made from a wedding dress. She recycles the dresses into christening clothing for children and babies. |
To call Merlyn and Pat Zubrod retired is an understatement. The Templeton couple keeps plenty busy with their family, their hobbies, and their “quiet” life on the farm. But while Merlyn is farm born and raised, Pat grew up in Des Moines. As the couple’s 41st wedding anniversary approaches, she well remembers her transition from city girl to farm wife.
“It was interesting,” she begins, recalling the adjustment. “I never knew people ate so much until I moved out here. It was corn shelling and my husband told me to bring lunch out around 9 am. I asked him, ‘What’s lunch?’ He said sandwiches and he told me how many men were here, so that was OK. Coming from Des Moines, I figured one sandwich per person. That was not enough! My husband came back and told me to make more sandwiches.
“Then, of course, they came in for dinner. After that, my husband told me to bring lunch out again about 2 o’clock so that was sandwiches and coffee again. At least this time I knew to make more sandwiches!
“I never knew people ate so much!”
Pat soon adjusted to the farm appetite and even passed on some of her “city” ways.
“The shellers used to laugh because I put napkins in the lunch! Now my husband won’t each without a napkin. I converted him!”
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Merlyn Zubrod built this wooden stagecoach from the frame of a Ford Econoline van. He enjoys special projects and has built two wooden cars in addition to the stagecoach. |
Now retired, both Merlyn and Pat work part-time at the Templeton Rye Distillery and spend the rest of their time on various hobbies. Pat is an accomplished seamstress. She donates fleece baby blankets to the newborns at the Manning hospital (121 so far) and her latest project is recycling wedding dresses into baby christening clothes. She began with her daughter’s dress and clothes for her grandsons.
“Rhonda has two boys and she brought me her wedding dress and wanted me to make christening gowns,” Pat explains. “I did and they turned out pretty good, so then I made the little boys outfits. It was so much fun, that I decided to keep doing it.”
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| This wooden car began as a 1974 Maverick, then Merlyn went to work. |
Word of mouth soon brought more wedding dresses Pat’s way. In most cases, the wedding dress is within the family and holds special meaning for the child’s mother.
“I see a dress and I can hardly wait to start cutting it apart,” Pat says. “I just enjoy making them so much. The hardest part is laying out the pattern.”
“She pretty much spends her day at the sewing machine,” Merlyn agrees.
While Pat is at the sewing machine, working in satin, lace, and pearls, Merlyn is in the shop working in wood.
“I kid him,” Pat jokes, “that he can come over here to eat and sleep. Otherwise, he’s out there!”
“If I don’t have anything to do, I’ll break something and then fix it,” Merlyn laughs.
Merlyn always enjoyed woodworking but he takes the hobby beyond cabinets, doors and furniture to vehicles. He’s built two wooden cars and one stagecoach. None are built from kits; all were built piece by piece from Merlyn’s imagination and ingenuity.
Using a 1974 Maverick, he cut off the metal and fashioned a Redwood frame to build his first wooden car. A Ford Econoline van became a wooden stagecoach. He transformed two golf carts into another wooden cart and a John Deere riding lawnmower into a scooter. All the vehicles are licensed and drivable.
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Pat also transforms wedding dresses into christening suits for little boys. |
“They are classified as reconstructed vehicles,” Merlyn explains. “They have to pass the DOT inspection. They take them out on the road for a spin.”
Merlyn enjoys unusual projects. He’s crafted yard ornaments, creates polished wooden crosses, and always has a project of some sort underway.
“I like to do things that other people can’t,” he explains.
When they’re not busy with their various hobbies, Merlyn and Pat enjoy keeping up with their extended family. Both were married prior to their marriage to each other, so their family is a blended one. Between them, they have six children: Randy Zubrod lives in Templeton; Rhonda Wolf lives in Omaha; Deb Musfeldt lives in Carroll; Karla Spoo lives in Coon Rapids; Tom Allen lives in Carroll; and Tricia Blum lives in Urbandale. They have 12 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. The family also includes a spoiled dachshund, Molly. The couple is active in Sacred Heart Church in Templeton and has no plans to leave the farm, even though Pat originally was a city girl.
“I wouldn’t go back. All the money in the world wouldn’t make me go back. I love it on the farm.”