Warmth and Community

Minnesota just finished the coldest week yet, the kind of cold that makes you want to huddle by the fire, pull on extra layers, and dream of summer wood-fired pizza. But here at Alpha & Omega, we believe the best antidote to a Minnesota winter isn’t just physical warmth, it’s the warmth that comes from community, connection, and stories that remind us how endings can become beautiful new beginnings.

Our hearts are with our friends and neighbors in Minnesota navigating difficult and unsettling moments in their communities. We’re inspired by the courage of Minnesotans standing together, caring for one another, and working toward peace and safety.

This month, we are reprinting an edited version of a story originally written by Alison Murrell, the great-granddaughter of Erwin and Eleanor Reynolds. During her visit to Alpha & Omega Farm, Alison beautifully captured the essence of what makes this place so special, woven with the threads of past and present to create a tapestry of community, family, and new beginnings.

“I thought I might never see this place again.”

Those were the words running through the mind of a young woman sitting at the top of a staircase, watching her aunts and uncles pack up her great-grandparents’ house. Boxes were being hauled down the stairs. The home was being prepared to rent, then eventually sell.

She looked around at the space where holiday dinners had been shared, where great-grandma and great-grandpa had sat in their favorite spots, where family memories had been woven into every corner. “Remember the memories here?” she thought to herself, trying to capture it all one last time. We all have a place like this, don’t we? A kitchen table where stories were told, a front porch where summer evenings lingered, a backyard where generations played. That space where, if you close your eyes, you can still hear the voices and feel the presence of people you loved. She was trying to capture it all one last time, to commit every detail to memory before it slipped away.

That young woman never imagined she’d return to that exact spot nearly ten years later – this time watching children play basketball with old grain carts, feeding goats, and eating wood-fired pizza while families laughed around picnic tables.

Yet to every ending, there is always a beginning.

A Love Story and a Dream Home

The property where Alpha & Omega now sits has a history as warm as the pizzas we pull from our ovens.

It began with Erwin and Eleanor Reynolds – a couple whose love story started with a bucket of water. Literally. When Eleanor’s father was hiring Erwin to work on the family farm, he told the young man, “If you can throw a pail of water on that girl standing in the window, you got the job.” Erwin filled a pail and sloshed it onto Eleanor, who gasped in surprise. He was hired on the spot. They married a few years later.

During World War II, Erwin joined the Civilian Conservation Corps while taking over Eleanor’s family farm. After the war, they moved to Princeton, where Erwin worked for Westman Silo Company building grain silos across the Midwest, and Eleanor worked as a nurse at the local hospital.

When retirement came, they had a dream: build a home in the country with their own hands. Erwin, along with his brothers Rodger and Gerald, constructed what the family would simply call “the farm.”

According to their daughter Carol, “They had a beautiful yard with big trees behind the house and so other family members would come with their motorhomes and spend a couple weeks there over the summer.”

The farm became the gathering place. Thanksgiving dinners. Christmas celebrations. Family reunions. Church picnics. The joy of living out in the country with horses and chickens, surrounded by family, filled their retirement years.

Eleanor passed away in March of 2008. Erwin followed that December.

The family kept the property for a few years, renting it out, but eventually it had to be sold. The house and land aged with little maintenance. Another chapter seemed to be closing on the property that had been built with such love and intention.

But sometimes what appears to be an ending is really just the beginning of something wonderful.

A New Vision Takes Root

When Brad and Kim purchased the property in 2014, they saw something beyond the aging structure. They saw an opportunity to restore what Erwin and Eleanor had created – a gathering place, a hub for community, a space where families could make memories.

They renovated the home, preserving Erwin’s craftsmanship while giving it new life. They added wood-fired pizza ovens. They repurposed a grain bin into a cozy dining space strung with lights. They brought in farm animals for children to visit.

“We need a place where we can come together as a community that’s family-friendly,” Kim remembers saying. “That’s really my number one goal – bringing the community together.”

Alpha & Omega Farm opened in October 2020, right in the middle of COVID restrictions. No one could go inside anywhere, so everyone came outside. People sat at picnic tables by fire rings, ate pizza under the Minnesota sky, and found connection during a time of profound isolation.

“There were some good things that came out of COVID,” Kim said, “and I think this was one of them.”

The most beautiful part of this story? Every year since they opened, Erwin and Eleanor’s daughter Carol visits Alpha & Omega with her husband Craig, their children, and grandchildren. They eat pizza together. They walk the property. They make new memories in a place steeped in old ones.

That young woman who sat on the stairs certain she’d never return? She’s one of Carol’s grandchildren. She’s been back – standing in that exact same spot, but this time the place is filled with joy, hope, laughter, and community once more.

Carol told Kim and Brad, “I really think it’s beautiful. I think that mom and dad would be so pleased.”

Today, Alpha & Omega continues to honor what Erwin and Eleanor built. Just as they welcomed family members who’d park their motorhomes under the big trees for summer visits, they now offer glamping sites where guests can spend the night looking out at their fields with cattle, alpacas, and donkeys.

Just as the farm hosted church picnics and family celebrations, they now host weddings, celebrations of life, business retreats, and birthdays.

Just as Erwin and Eleanor created a space where people felt welcomed and at home, Kim and Brad move from table to table saying, “Hi friends” and “Hi family, how are we doing today?”

Because that’s what they want everyone to feel – even on their first visit – that they’re part of their family.

A Warm Thought for Cold Days

As we finish out Minnesota’s coldest month, this story reminds us of something important: places hold memory. Land holds legacy. And sometimes the greatest gift we can give is to honor what came before while creating space for what comes next.

Erwin built this home with his own hands. Eleanor filled it with love and hospitality. Together they created a gathering place that brought people together for decades.

Kim and Brad are simply carrying that forward – one pizza, one family, one memory at a time.

So while the temperatures drop and the snow piles up, we’re warmed by the knowledge that come spring, these fields will fill again with laughter. The wood ovens will fire up. Children will feed the goats. Families will gather around picnic tables.

And somewhere, Erwin and Eleanor are pleased that “the farm” is once again exactly what they built it to be: a place where community comes together.

Alpha & Omega Farm is located in Princeton, Minnesota. The farm hosts regular pizza events featuring wood-fired pizzas made with locally sourced ingredients (pre-orders required), as well as special events throughout the season. To discuss hosting your next event at Alpha & Omega Farm, contact Kim at alphaomegapizzafarm@gmail.com or visit alphaomegafarm.co. And no, that’s not a typo—it’s .co, not .