FarmHouse - Washington State University

FarmHouse Almanac p . 3 F arming runs in the Stevens family, and both Patrick Stevens '89 and his children enjoyed growing up on their family's vegetable seed crop farm in Moses Lake, Washington. Once he started school at Washington State, Patrick found FarmHouse to be a perfect fit thanks to some of his hometown friends and new friends of similar backgrounds. His FarmHouse experience shaped him into the man he is today and provided him with the tools to succeed in running his father's farm for the last 20 years. "I was recruited by two awesome guys, but I also had a family friend in my hometown, Peter Doumit '69, who I looked up to," Patrick shared. "at was probably one of the bigger reasons why I joined." Two other FarmHouse alumni were especially influential for Patrick as an undergraduate: Dr. Duane Miller, Wyoming '59 and Lloyd Slusser '61, who were chapter advisors at that time. "ey were strong men, good advisors, and solid role models," he explained. "ey made an impact on me and everyone who was there during my time." As a member of FarmHouse, Patrick gained leadership experience while serving as chapter president, which helped prepare him for similar roles in church, rodeo, and in taking over his family's farm, Stevens Farms, Inc., in 2000. "e leadership part of FarmHouse was huge," he stated. "Being well-rounded was important, Built by the FarmHouse Brotherhood Patrick Stevens '89 Shares Memories of Formative Fraternity Experience Patrick Stevens '89 has been on the Moses Lake Rodeo Association for 25 years. e children of Patrick Stevens '89: Taylor, Jared, Kaitlyn, and Brennan. too. We played intramural sports, did study tables, participated in philanthropy, and had fun. It shaped all facets of my life going forward." e intramural sports program as WSU was another high point during his fraternity experience. "I have really good memories of all the intramural sports we played together," he said. "One of the most interesting sports I played was water polo. Coming from a small town, I hadn't had the opportunity to play that before." Time spent with his FarmHouse brothers playing intramural sports and bonding at the chapter house undoubtedly led to friendships that Patrick still cherishes. "ose friendships we made in FarmHouse over four years were very important. I have a lot of good memories with those guys and the things we did," he said. "It's fun for me to see how their lives have gone, how their families have turned out, and how their kids have been raised." Patrick and his FarmHouse brothers are now at the age where their kids are going to college and getting married. His oldest daughter, Kaitlyn, was married in November 2020; his daughter, Taylor, is a senior at Eastern Washington University; his son, Brandon, attends Perry Technical Institute in Yakima, Washington; and his youngest son, Jared, is a senior in high school. As his children fly the coop one by one, Patrick recognizes that he has much to be proud of. "I'm proud of carrying on my dad's family farm and proud of raising four kids on the farm, who turned out to be good kids with a work ethic, common sense, and an appreciation for agriculture," he shared. While the pandemic hasn't affected how much he keeps in touch with his brothers, Patrick has kept in touch with a handful of brothers over the years and reconnected with a few others more recently thanks to social media. "Several ended up working in agriculture in my area where I live, so some of them are good friends who I see all the time," he stated. "I'm pretty old school, and I just got onto Facebook in the last year, and I've reconnected with a handful of guys through that." Aside from being in charge of his family's farm, Patrick does a lot of work with his church and has been on the Moses Lake Rodeo Association for the past 25 years. You can find Patrick on Facebook or connect with him at stevensfarms@ sosmail.us. Glenn Aldrich '55 and his wife, Wisten, finished their 56th blueberry season last summer. ey live in Mossyrock, Wash. Email: galdrich@tds.net Norm Scott '56 and his wife, Sharon, live in Tucson, Ariz., from November to May and in Ithaca, N.Y., from May to November. Although Norm retired from Cornell in 2011, he's remained busy with numerous academic reports in studies focused on digital agriculture and emerging technologies. Email: nrs5@cornell.edu Marc Hildesheim '02 is working on trail projects in Nevada and Arizona. He develops mechanized equipment operator training for recreational trail managers and teaches workshops on how to build sustainable OHV trails across the country. He lives in Medical Lake, Wash. Email: mhildesheim143@gmail.com Alumni News

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