Wednesday, October 14th, found the Wagner Rotary Club assembled for another weekly meeting under the guidance of former President Bill Frei. Rotarian Bill led the members in reciting the Rotary 4-Way Test followed by a prayer given by Rotarian Bill Heermann. Thanks, was given for our time of fellowship and food.

Assistant Sergeant at Arms Scott McAdargah levied fines and the first fine was for Becky Brunsing: $2 for farming instead of doing her job as Sergeant at Arms

$5 to Jeff Doom for not preparing a Membership Minute $2 to Jerry Henke for killing two wasps

$5 to Craig Krsnak for coming back from vacation but missing the meeting

$5.60 Happy Fine from Linda Soukup for a 56th wedding anniversary

Rotarian Kathe Henke drew the winning ticket but only drew a 7 of Clubs from the Queen of Hearts deck

Patty Frei reported that we had 13 members present for the meeting and two guests for the first time in a long time. We collected $15 which brings the Queen of Hearts pot up to $468.00

Football winner books were Kelsey Doom sold by Rachel Woods and Kirk Williams sold by Jerry Henke.

Jerry also had the program for the day, and he introduced the club to Paul and Lisa Schoenfelder who are the owners and operators of Sip Homestead Farms Bed and Breakfast and Choteau Creek Brewing Company.

Paul and Lisa had a power point presentation which they took turns narrating. Lisa is a Wagner native who grew up on the Sip Homestead that is located northeast of Wagner. Paul and Lisa moved to Wagner after spending many years employed in Idaho. Their dream of owning a brewery was not news to some in the Wagner Community. Several people had attended a presentation they gave back in 2012 at the Wagner Theatre introducing their vision for the enterprise.

They are now a viable Bed and Breakfast and farm friendly brewery. They are a registered business and are a fully licensed brewery. Lisa began by showing a picture of the original house built on the Sip Homestead by her grandparents. Frank Sip came from Czechoslovakia and now her and Paul are the 5th generation to be living on the Homestead. It was a log home built in the 1880’s but over the years had been covered by ordinary white siding. Paul was a little skeptical about the logs being there but in 2018 when they removed the siding the logs were there and in incredibly good shape structurally.

Since then they have remodeled, enlarged, and redecorated the inside of the home. The pictures were helpful to show the progress they made. They preserved as many original details as possible, leaving the old chimney, removing the old dirt and clay chinking, and replacing it with modern white chinking. The have a modern bathroom with a real old-fashioned claw foot tub. There are two bedrooms, one with a large bed and one with twin beds.

They worked outside as well planting a new orchard and generally cleaning and improving the area. They support the local markets buying as much as they can from local fruit and vegetable growers. They strive to provide quality food and sell some of the local products also.

They are now licensed with AirBnB and take bookings online or on Facebook. They recently were awarded the title of Super Host as providing a venue for special events, parties, wedding receptions. This title is awarded according to the number of bookings and high ratings that are received. Also, they recently became members of Harvest Host which is a RV Club that books campers within the United States and Canada. They provide several locations on their property to accommodate all types of RV vehicles if they are self-contained. They have had several bookings in the month of August and received good reviews from all of them.

Paul spoke about the Choteau Creek Brewery which is also fully licensed to brew lagers and ales and licensed to sell them. They have nonalcoholic beverages for those who do not wish to imbibe and provide root beer and cream soda for children. The Brewery is located on the property separate from the house and is a new facility.

If you would like further information you can locate them on Facebook or siphomesteadfarms@gmail.com Their address is 40118 296th Street and it is on a gravel road which is in very good condition. The brewery is open on Friday 4pm to 10 pm, Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 pm and Sunday 1 pm to 6 pm. Telephone number is 384-3620. Give them a call or drive out during their hours for an experience which you will enjoy.

Wagner is incredibly lucky to have this type of bed and breakfast venture as well as a local brewery in our community. It is unique and well run by friendly accommodating people. Welcome Paul and Lisa! We wish you all the best in your venture!