BLAKE ELLIS/Local Journalism Initiative

The statistics are eye opening. Farmers are twice more likely to die by suicide than the general population. Twenty-five percent of first responders have thought about suicide.
Twenty-seven-year-old Dalles Bergsma took his own life on Nov. 23, 2020.
“We had no idea,” said his mother, Diane, when she talks about how unexpected it was for his family.
He had bought his own farm at 18 years old, married his wife Michelle and was a member of the Dawn-Euphemia Fire Department.
The family has founded Three Oaks Respite Cabin, a place where farmers and first responders can recover from their daily stresses and anxieties while getting access to mental health supports. It’s an effort to have something good come out of the family’s tragedy.
The first-annual Shifting Gears Tractor Parade fundraiser will roll through the Township of Dawn-Euphemia on Aug. 12. The parade will begin at 887 Shetland Road at 2 p.m. and finish in Florence with a barbecue to follow.
Money raised will support programming for guests of the cabin. The programs will be designed and led by registered therapists who understand the difficulties faced by farmers and first responders.
Bergsma hopes the cabin will be ready for use in October.