
By Brenda Erdahl
Ruth (McDonald) Zeidler has likely trod every inch of the McDonald Family Farm in her 91 years. She knows the woods, fields, and waters of her heritage probably better than anyone, but until she climbed into the cockpit of Greg Thomes’ Cessna 177B Cardinal earlier this winter, she had never seen it from the sky.
Zeidler’s daughter Becky Anderson came up with the idea of a flyover one day while visiting the farm in French Lake Township. The property’s history as part of the McDonald Family goes back to 1859 when Zeidler’s great grandfather homesteaded it. That is more than 150 years of history and it’s still in the family. In 2019, it was recognized as a Sesquicentennial Farm by the Minnesota Farm Bureau.
“I was out at the farm, maybe three, four days before we took off on the flight, I just looked at the blue sky and I saw a plane flying over and said ‘oh, it would be so fun to have mom fly over and it just all came together,” Anderson recalled. Hoping to hire a local pilot, she called the Buffalo airport and was referred to Maple Lake where she heard about Thomes. “I left a message, and he called back within a minute. I thought, is he an angel? It turns out he had just taken his own 90-year-old mother up,” Anderson said. “I knew it was meant to be.”
At 91-years-old Ruth (McDonald) Zeidler, front, had the opportunity to see from the sky her family farm in French Lake Township which has been in the family since 1859. She is pictured with her daughter, Becky Anderson. The plane was piloted by Greg Thomes and took off from Maple Lake Airport.