It was like a scene from a movie where a community pulls together to support the memory of a loved one.

That’s what the scene was like last Friday when Greene County community members stepped up to help harvest corn for the late Pat Fields. The Paton farmer tragically died in June when a semi rear-ended Fields’s tractor as he was driving on a county road. Michelle Fields, Pat’s wife, says last Friday, there were 19 combines, 19 tractors and auger carts and 30 semis harvesting corn on her husband’s five corn fields. Michelle adds that with the number of combines in the fields that day, they were able to harvest 160 rows in one round. She talks about her reaction to seeing such widespread community support.

“It was a very humbling experience. There were so many people that showed up. I’m not sure that I got around to tell everyone ‘Thank you’ but just seeing everybody work together. We didn’t have any collisions, we didn’t spill any grain and everybody had such kind words to say to me about their experiences with Pat. It was just humbling and I’m so very, very thankful to have such kind and generous neighbors.”

Michelle points out that they served about 125 people lunch and were done with harvest in about four hours. She says some of the same people also helped harvest soybeans a couple weeks prior to helping harvest corn. Michelle adds that she knows Pat would have loved to see such amazing support.

“It would’ve been his perfect day to have all that commotion going on at one time and seeing that much work get done. But (he would) still feel a little bit guilty if we were pulling other people out of their fields to have them come help us. But he would’ve just been tickled pink to see it.”

Community members also stepped up this past August with a fundraiser for the Pat Fields Memorial Scholarship in which $75,000 was raised. To see a video that Landus Cooperative put together of the event, click the video below.