For Trent and Shana Forsyth, Faith and Farm is not only the name of their new store, but also tells its story.
The store is at 101 E. Madison in the old McGinty-Whitworth building, a 47-year retail staple on the Iola square.
Faith and farm is a way of life for the Yates Center residents.
Year in and year out, farmers put their trust in a higher power and often take a leap of faith that their crops will produce. Trent, a full-time farmer who moonlights as a woodworker, doesn?t get too low or too high when it comes to his corn or soybean crops, which are looking to be a total loss after the recent flooding.
Instead of looking at all the hard work of some day replanting beans, he stays positive, making light of the situation.
?Right now I?m farming rice and crawdads,? he quips, while looking out into the beautiful storefront he and his wife have created.
?The faith comes from farming and everything we have been through. The farm part comes from the fact that we farm and live out in the country in a rural area,? Shana said. ?That is kind of where the name came from.?
The business is a new beginning for Shana, who is a beam of positivity. Her small-town charm, honest laugh and bubbly personality will serve her well in her new endeavor.
The turn of events for Shana happened when the couple?s youngest son, Blake, died at age 7 in 2015 from brain and spinal cancer.
As a former school counselor and teacher, the thought of sharing the hallways with Blake?s would-be classmates became too much for Shana to bear.
?I was a school counselor here in Iola for Jefferson and McKinley. I have done Pre-K through eighth grade and I was a special education teacher. So I have done a little bit of everything,? Shana said.
?I don?t really want to be at school with his class and seeing them every single day. I enjoy teaching a lot but I need to be someplace else. He passed away of cancer, so it was a long haul. Hopefully people will be patient with us and allow us to kind of figure it out a little bit,? Shana said.
The Forsyths? plan was to open up a small store that offered some of Trent?s projects, as well as some crafts. But as fate would have it, their paths would cross with Sharon Whitworth, also a former educator and owner of the building. Whitworth?s husband, Jerry, operated the store.
?I worked with Sharon one year here. Her sister lives in Yates Center, so I was already very familiar with the family. Sharon substituted with me the year my son was in cancer treatment, so there is a connection there with our family in that she really helped us out and took care of my class when I couldn?t be there. She was just so happy to have us here.
?Sharon also wants to see Jerry?s legacy keep going and that this building not to sit here vacant.?
