Donna Constant is a driving force and once she gets an idea, it’s like a snowball rolling down a mountain.

Thanks to Constant, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Beldenville will host an outdoor worship service, lunch and blessing of farmers and tractors for a safe and bountiful harvest season on Sept. 10.

All local farmers are encouraged to drive their tractors to Our Savior’s Lutheran ball field on County Road N between Lawton and El Paso on Sunday, Sept. 10 for a special blessing at 1 p.m.

“I hope we have 10 miles of tractors here, that’s my dream,” Constant said.

Constant’s boss rides motorcycle and he told her about a church north of the Twin Cities that blesses motorcycles riders each year. Since Ellsworth is a rural farming community, she felt blessing tractors and operators on the cusp of harvest season would be fitting. She was also inspired by a personal brush with tragedy.

Her son Danny nearly lost an arm 26 years ago when it was caught in a corn chopper. It was broken in three places; the chopper dug into his shoulder when the slip clutch slipped. She immediately spoke to Pierce County 4-H Educator Frank Ginther to implement a 4-H farm safety program, which still runs to this day.

“You got to take something bad and make it good,” she reasoned. “More accidents happen farming during the harvest season than planting and we are hoping to start an annual tradition by blessing the equipment and driver. Our hope is to reduce or eliminate the accidents that occur.”

She approached the church council with her idea; though it didn’t gain traction right away, Constant is not one to be deterred.

“If you think I’m going away, you’re wrong,” she told them. “There are more PTOs in the fall, people rush to beat the rain, and in haste things can happen.”

PTOs, or power take-offs, are tractors’ stub shafts, which transfer power from the tractor to a PTO-driven machine or implement. This is accomplished by connecting a drive shaft from the machinery to the stub shaft, which can be dangerous.

“Farmers feed America and without them the country would in trouble,” Constant said. “This is a small way to recognize them and hopefully keep them safe. God’s right on your shoulder and under your hood.”

An outdoor worship service, centered around the harvest theme, will commence on home plate at the ball field (seating provided) at 10:30 a.m., followed by a free will donation lunch of pulled pork, smoked turkey, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, cherry and French silk pies. The money collected will go towards the ball field renovations, including excavation costs, bathroom installation and concession stand expansion. The church ball field hosts a slow-pitch softball league in the summers.

“We want the community to use this park,” Constant said, whether it’s for softball, family reunions or other gatherings. “We have fences, which is safer for the kids, a playground in a safe area and deer in the field as we play ball. This is my field of dreams.”

After lunch, tractors will be blessed at 1 p.m. Even if the blessing helps save one life or limb, Constant said it’s worth it.

“It has to start somewhere,” she smiled. “Our pastor and farmers I’ve spoken to are excited.”

Parking will be available for attendees and tractors on Tim Wiff’s field behind the ball field and at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church down the road, with the El Paso Community Club shuttle ferrying people back and forth. Constant hopes to see a grand tractorcade leaving the ballfield after the blessing.

“I’m really proud of what we’re doing,” she said. “Farming is 365 days a year, 24/7.”