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Jane and Vincent Videen welcomed the community to their barn year after year on their farm in rural Shafer.

Now, the barn will take on new life as animals find a home there – this time as a part of the Engstrom farm.

Eric and Beth Engstrom considered themselves neighbors of the Videens, even though the two families lived more than a half-mile away from each other.

Beth grew up in Lindstrom and has known the Videen family all her life. Eric also grew up in the Chisago Lakes area. After Vincent passed away, Beth talked to Jane about plans for the barn on the Videen property.

Jane sold the house and small hobby farm last year. Beth talked to her at an auction at the property last spring.

“I promised her we’d try to buy the barn,” Beth said.

The Engstroms officially purchased the barn last August. Plans were then made to move the barn up the road to their property. Both homes are on Redwing Ave. (CR 21) in Shafer – the Videens on the northern edge of downtown and the Engstroms just north of the 310th St. (CR 37) intersection.

The process took several months, Beth said. It was a two-day process for Light House Movers out of Balsam Lake to get the barn put on one of their trucks. Then, the Engstroms were forced to wait six weeks while Xcel Energy coordinated its crew for the move.

“We were planning on moving it in December, to make it a Christmas present for Jane,” Beth said. Jane passed away last month, but she knew the barn was ready to make the move to the Engstrom farm.

The move on Jan. 26 involved utility and cable crews taking down wires in three different locations. The wires were unhooked and placed on the ground between 2 by 4s in the roadway. Then the truck was able to drive across the wires safely.

The actual move took about an hour until the barn was in place on a concrete slab next to the Engstrom home. It was two days later that the barn was finally lifted off the truck and placed in its new home.

The crew from the moving company worked hard, Beth said. “They were absolutely great. They hadn’t moved too many barns before,” she said. Most of the company’s moves involve lifting houses off the foundation for basement construction, Beth said.

The Engstroms now have plans to restore the barn, give it a fresh coat of paint and get it ready for live inhabitants again.

Vincent built the barn in 1942. Over the years, it housed oxen, work horses, chickens and milk cows. It was also the site of many barn dances and Midsummer celebrations for the Ki Chi Saga Swedish Club and other public dances. The Engstroms are pleased that they are able to preserve a piece of local history in this way.

When the barn is ready, the Engstroms hope to have their own barn dance for family and friends as a celebration. Until then, there is plenty of work to do. “There’s still two feet of hay up in the haymow,” Beth said.

After hosting the dance, the Engstroms will use the barn for baby animals they raise on the farm, including emu. It will be a way to separate the young animals to better ensure the health of the emus. They also hope to expand their farm to include alpaca, which may be housed in the barn as well.

The moving isn’t done, though. The silo will probably join the barn this spring. Beth said they aren’t sure how they will move the silo down the road, but they want to get it next to the barn soon. “It came with the barn,” she said.

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