Meet the Wavra Clan
If you want to understand the Wavra clan who are employed by Lenon Implement Company and Fisher Farm & Lawn, Divisions of Fisher Implement Company, ask fellow-employee Marge Babcock. She’ll tell you that, “They’re all jokesters, but they tend to business, and they have a loyal customer base.” Marge offered this quote while skewering paper bags with long-handled hook, in an effort to remove them from the lenses of cameras, which are used to monitor the parts counter—another light moment in an otherwise routine day.
Don Wavra (above right) came to work at Lenon Implement in 1972. He was a friend of Tom Tweed, company owner, and says that they used to get together sometimes. Once Tom asked if Don knew anyone interested in working part time during the summer. Don was a seventh-grade teacher, and quickly expressed his interest. “Show up when school is out,” was the reply. And he has kept showingn up for the last 35 years.
Don retired from teaching in 1997 and at that point began working full time at Lenon. Well, almost full time. Every Thursday afternoon Don celebrates “Holy Thursday” by heading out for some recreation. He calls it golfing, but his co-workers refer to it as “goofing.”
It wasn’t Don who brought his brother, Randy, (left, in above left photo) into the business, but Ed Annon, Randy’s father-in-law. Randy says that in November 1981, Ed, a salesman for Lenon, asked him if he wanted to try being a salesman for the company. Those were tough times economically, but Randy thought it was a good opportunity to try something different. He weathered through those early years and found sales to be a good career for him.
Randy recalls that when he started at Lenon Implement, the John Deere 4440 tractor was new to the market. Over the years they went to the 50 Series, 55 the 60, 70, 00, 10, 20, and now the 30 series. Soon, they’ll roll out the 40 Series, starting all over again. He also notes another cycle of change that started back in 1976, when the John Deere Company required Lenon Implement to move the seven miles from Monitor to Woodburn. It seemed so far away, like the other side of the world, but it ended up being a good location. In a year or so he’ll see that cycle completed, and history repeated, as John Deere requires that Ernst Hardware and Lenon Implement merge and move to one location, which will be about eight miles farther up the road. In preparation for that move and the redistribution of personnel that will need to take place, Randy has moved his office space to Salem. He says it really doesn’t matter a lot, because as much as possible, he’ll still be in his pickup, and he’ll never be more than a phone call away.
Don and Randy grew up in a family of seven sons and one daughter, on a farm their father had purchased in 1934. The farm is still in the family, under the ownership of their brother, Chuck. Eric Wavra (right, in above left photo) is the son of another brother, Fred. Eric says that agriculture is in the Wavra blood. Prior to working with Fisher Implement, he had been employed by a grass seed company, working with precision ag. He met up with Carl Smith, of Ernst Hardware, in a customer’s field one day, and they got to talking about the need to have someone on staff with The Fisher-Ernst Group to support precision farming. Before long, Eric was asked if he would be that person. He checked with his uncles to find out how they liked working for the Company, got a thumbs up, and joined the team. Eric enjoys being on the leading edge of technology—presenting new products and concepts to farmers. They consider him a consultant, rather than a salesman, and that results in a more relaxed attitude, allowing him to delve a little deeper into their farming practices so that he can recommend the best product for them.
Eric enjoys coming to work and seeing his uncles, even though, he reports, they give him a bad time on almost a daily basis. But as Don says, “Why not have fun, somebody’s got to do it!”
