A familiar splash of bright blue along the highway outside Beaver Dam is suddenly gone. The Culver's "Thank You Farmers" barn, a local roadside favorite, was shredded by severe thunderstorms on Wednesday, leaving nothing but shattered boards and twisted metal scattered across the field just days before repair work was supposed to start. The barn had already taken a hit in an April storm, so for neighbors, the timing feels especially cruel. No injuries were reported.
Owner: Repairs Were Supposed to Start This Week
Michael Zimmerman, who owns the barn, told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that winds on the property hit about 85 mph, strong enough to rip apart the structure before crews could even get started on fixes. Work had been scheduled for this week.
"The insurance company wasn't fast enough," Zimmerman said, summing up the kind of bad-luck timing every property owner dreads. The latest storm peeled away the siding and roof and hurled large chunks of the barn across the nearby field.
Culver's Thank You Farmers Project
Culver's launched its Thank You Farmers initiative in 2013 and has since painted similar blue barns in Mineral Point, Argenta, Illinois, and Greenfield, Indiana, according to Culver's. The company says the program has raised roughly $8 million for agricultural education and community efforts, with the bright-blue barns serving as an eye-catching nod to the farmers who supply the chain's dairy and other ingredients.
Culver's told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel it was relieved no one was hurt, adding in a statement that "while the barn has become a recognizable symbol, the real story is the land and the people who care for it." Zimmerman said he intends to rebuild as soon as insurance and contractors line up, although he did not give a timeline for when a new barn might rise on the site.
