Wagon train ride makes breast cancer survivor “feel alive again.”
“I feel alive again,” says Mindy Zinthefer, one of the woman dressed as a pioneer riding in a covered wagon through Kewaunee on June 10.
The mother of three says she has been looking forward to the three-day History on the Move wagon train ride as a celebration of her recovery from the breast cancer she suffered two years ago.
“I couldn’t lift a saddle; I couldn’t lift a harness,” said Zinthefer, an equestrian who was riding in a covered wagon with her husband, Ed, daughter Jolynn, 21, and sons Andrew, 12, and Luke, 10.
This is the third wagon train ride the family has participated in over the last five years.
“I feel like people forget about our heritage and that is something that I don’t want to see die,” Zinthefer said. “It is important to bring history alive again.”
“It reminds me that there is more to life than work and cellphones,” agreed Jolynn, who works as a web designer at the family’s businesses, Arch Electric and Arch Sustainability in Plymouth.
After visiting two assisted-living facilities and making a stop at Kewaunee’s grandfather clock where the group of 12 wagons and horses was greeted by Mayor Sandi Christman, the wagon train pulled out onto Wisconsin 42 and headed to the Ag Heritage Farm, where a dinner and barn dance was planned for the approximately 100 wagon train riders. The public was invited to attend.
“We just like to get together with our horses and travel with our wagons,” said Matt Koltz, one of the organizers of the event. “We are enjoying the beautiful scenery in Kewaunee.”
The wagon train camped out at the farm of Cathy and Al Zellner the night before, and then spent the morning riding along Lakeshore Road, where it stopped at the farms of Francis and Sue Wojta and JoAnn Koehler for lunch before proceeding to Kewaunee.
“We are just along for the ride and enjoying life,” said Ed Zinthefer..
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press Gazette: Wagon train ride makes breast cancer survivor "feel alive again."