A coaster wagon upgrade

Editor’s note: This story comes as an update to a story from Kellogg, Minnesota, which Dairy Star published on Oct. 26, 2024, entitled, Finding his own way to help: Franke assists with chopping using motorized wheelchair, coaster wagon.

OMAHA, Neb. — After reading about 9-year-old Memphis Franke helping Evers Dairy haul corn silage last fall with a Radio Flyer coaster wagon pulled by his motorized wheelchair, Tyler Roucka, the JAGUAR self-propelled forage harvesting marketing manager for CLAAS of America, wanted to do something.

Roucka said the photos of the coaster wagon, which had been loaded by a CLAAS self-propelled forage harvester, stood out because he thought CLAAS could upgrade Memphis’ wagon.

A bit of brainstorming with the product team and several months of work later, Memphis was presented with a custom CLAAS wagon Jan. 20 at the CLAAS showroom in Omaha.

When he first received the gift, Memphis’ mom, Tracy Franke, said Memphis did not realize it was for him.

“I said, ‘Memphis, this is all for you, they made this wagon for you,’” Tracy said. “He had tears in his eyes and obviously turned away. He didn’t want to be embarrassed because he was crying. He had so much joy that they made him a wagon.”

Memphis’ grandparents, Mark and Janet Evers, are part owners of the Evers Dairy farm near Kellogg, Minnesota. The dairy milks about 2,600 cows and includes about 20 family members plus employees.

Memphis received the gift with 18 family members, extended family members and Evers Dairy employees there as guests of CLAAS to cheer him on.

“Meeting Memphis and his family just really solidified that he’s in really good hands, and that they want him to be a part of the dairy operation and day-to-day farm activities,” Roucka said. “I just hope that the cart can do everything and anything that he wants it to do.”

Memphis has Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, a rare form of muscular dystrophy which causes muscle degeneration over time. He was diagnosed at the age of 3, and, in 2021, he lost his ability to walk and started using a wheelchair.

“We have a lot of sad days dealing with this disease,” Tracy said. “These good days, these fun days give us strength to get through the bad days. You remember the joy felt during these incredible acts of kindness and generosity.”

Memphis’ mom, and his dad, Kevin, had been collaborating with CLAAS to keep the gift a surprise.

The gift was revealed using a CLAAS JAGUAR self-propelled forage harvester. After taking a family picture in the showroom, the family stepped back to give Memphis center stage. The 50th Anniversary JAGUAR in the showroom was started, and the spout, which was attached to a tarp covering the gift, was raised to reveal the wagon filled with CLAAS swag.

Tracy said she was emotional watching her son receive the gift.

“Even I had tears, … seeing the joy,” she said. “He was so happy with it. … Immediately we had to hook it up to him because he wanted to pull it around. … Then he took off with it. He was just whipping around in the store.”

Roucka said Memphis pulled the wagon around the showroom for about an hour. Roucka had initially worried whether the wagon would be suitably navigable, but his fears were soon eliminated.

“He was a pro within about 30 seconds of it being hooked up,” he said.

The wagon bed, which latches to the frame in the front has a sloping back end. Once unlatched, it tips back to unload. The wagon can accommodate up to 400 pounds of weight. The tires are big, suitable for traversing fields.

Roucka said CLAAS purchased the cart from an Amish company, Pinecraft. Then, they painted it CLAAS colors and had it wrapped by a local company in specially designed CLAAS wrap patterned after the wrap used on their European dump trailer, CARGOS.

Memphis already has plans of using the wagon to haul wood, water for the swimming pool, shelled corn, and, of course, corn silage.

“I want it to be something that he’ll enjoy,” Tyler said. “I hope that it provides everything that his grandparents and family members would love for him to utilize to be more part of (the farm).”

Along with the gift, the Franke family and the group from Evers Dairy enjoyed a meal catered for them by CLAAS and members of the family took a tour of the facility.

Tracy said they wanted other family members and employees from Evers Dairy to join them because of all they have done for Memphis to allow him to be part of the dairy.

“The farm has done such an amazing job with Memphis,” she said.

Tracy said the trip to CLAAS came at an almost perfect time as the Franke family is approaching the anniversary in February of Memphis’ diagnoses.

“That smile just said it all,” Tracy said. “(That) warmed your heart up. … (We can) help him fight this battle.”