Shawano County’s 389th barn quilt, called Antique Star, is now displayed on a barn owned by Matt and Katie Jo Bohm at N4435 Green Valley Road, Pulaski.
Matt and Katie Jo purchased their 80-acre farm from John and Dorothy Socha in September 2016. The purchase included the land, both farm fields and woods, as well as the house, two sheds, a chicken coop and the beautiful gray barn on which the quilt is mounted.
John and Dorothy purchased the farm from Bill DePas, who operated it as a dairy farm. They occupied the farm for 53 years while raising five children. John enjoyed cash cropping, growing and harvesting sweet corn, grain and hay. The farm had four previous owners before John.
Matt grew up a few miles around the corner on Nichols Drive where his family farmed, while Katie grew up about 10 minutes north on a small farm just outside of Gillett. Growing up, they both learned the basics of farming and country living, the way of life they wanted some day for their children.
Matt and Katie’s first home was one they rented across the road from their current home. After a short six-month stay, they purchased their first home on state Highway 32 in Green Valley. They both knew they didn’t want to stay there forever as they wanted more land and to be off the busy highway.
Matt and Katie got married in April 2011. A year later, they had their first son, Carson, in May 2012. Their second son, Logan, joined the family in January 2015. Shortly after, they decided to sell their home on Highway 32 and start the search for their forever home, which ended up being quite a journey.
One morning, while Matt was searching the MLS website, he came across the property listing. He first thought there was no way they could afford it. However, he was wrong. They contacted their realtor to set up a showing. During that visit, Matt and Katie met John and Dorothy, who had hoped that a young couple would purchase the property and raise their family there.
Matt and Katie immediately fell in love with all aspects of the property. They knew they would have enough space for their boys to play and ride toys on, they could have a garden, land to hunt on, a shop to store stuff in, a fixer upper home that they would make their own and a beautiful barn for some animals.
While the current use of the barn is primarily storage, they have made some improvements to it in hopes of keeping it around for a long time. New tracking was installed for ease of use on the north and south side doors and a new metal roof was installed in February 2022. Previously known as the “yellow” barn in the Krakow area, the barn is now a beautiful warm shade of worn gray.
The Bohm barn quilt was painted by the Shawano County Barn Quilt committee and was put on display by LeRoy and Keenan Raddant, who work for Raddant Electric in Shawano.
Antique Star quilt covers Green Valley barn
