Peace and Quiet
Trading city noise for a peaceful place is what drew Mike and Debra Hagy back to the Hawkins-Hagy-Hurst Farm in Frederick, Okla. The couple began their careers in Oklahoma City, but the Southwest Rural Electric Association members decided they wanted a rural way of life to raise their family. “We realized fairly quickly we loved the hustle and bustle, but we knew we didn’t want to do that forever. We wanted to give our kids the same oppor- tunities we had when we were growing up,” Debra Hagy says. In 1980, the Hagys returned to the family farm Debra’s great-grandfather purchased in 1907 for $8,000. Since their return, farming has not been the Hagy family’s main occupation. However, the wheat harvest has been a side operation in addition to their full-time jobs. The land has an allure to it that is hard to explain, according to owner Mike Hagy.
“I don’t plant cotton anymore, but when I used to cultivate it, one of the best feelings was the smell of the dirt and seeing it look so nice between the rows,” Mike Hagy says. “It gave me a lot of satisfaction.”
Mike Hagy takes out the tractor with grandson Max Hagy. Courtesy photo
After a career in education, the mil- itary reserves and now as general manager/CEO for Southwest Rural Electric Association, Mike Hagy says the farm remains his place of solace. “When the world closes in, the farm is my refuge,” he says. That sense of closeness to the land is not lost over time. Debra Hagy’s father still joins them for the wheat harvest, although now he sits and watches from the truck. His role may have changed, but Debra says he feels even more joy seeing her family live on the land and continue the heritage.
“There’s an emotional attachment when it’s been in your family so long rather than just going and purchasing a piece of land,” Debra Hagy says. “It has more meaning somehow. It runs in your blood.” For more information regarding the Centennial Farm and Ranch Program, contact Shea Otley at 405-522-4485 or
sjotley@okhistory.org.
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