Carol and I had a wonderful time as we spent Thanksgiving week with Robert and Phyllis Crawford in Tuttle, Okla. The Crawfords are the parents-in-law of our daughter, Rebecca.
I was happily surprised when Phyllis arranged a tour through the Braum's plant. I was doubly surprised to learn the plant was in Tuttle and only 11 miles from their home!
We received a cheerful greeting from Anita Stephens, our tour guide. During an informative video of the company we learned a lot.
The Braum family began the business in Emporia, Kan., in 1933. Known for a time as the Peter Pan Ice Cream Stores (named after the nearby Peter Pan Park), the main operation eventually relocated to Tuttle.
Quoting from a Braum's brochure, "The very heart of the Braum operation is the Braum Family Farm located in Tuttle, Oklahoma. This 10,000 acre working family farm is home to Braum's private dairy herd, milk barn, processing plant, bakery and warehouse distribution facility, truck maintenance facility, and water treatment plant." Their other large farm is in Follett, Texas.
The Braum family has their own crews who constructed all the buildings, roads, bridge, cattle housing, and the processing plants. The family and company believe in the free-enterprise system, and they have never received government funding. They don't want to use public tax money for private business.
We boarded the bus and Anita drove us to the bakery. I was amazed to see the efficient layout. Operating on a 24/7 schedule, the bakery products made today are loaded on trucks tonight and are on the store shelves in the morning. The operation is so well-managed that only about 20 people run the entire bakery. Upon seeing the cookies being made, our granddaughters asked if they could have some. Anita assured them they would.
The dairy is an impressive operation. In Tuttle, 800 cows are milked every 32 minutes. Braum's even makes the milk and ice cream cartons. Between 24 to 36 hours after milking the cows, the milk products -- milk, ice cream, ice cream pies and novelties, etc. -- are on the store shelves. Ice cream is packaged at the rate of 3,000 cartons per hour. It takes only about 12 minutes to load each semi-truck, and each truck delivers to three stores. All of the nearly 300 Braum's stores are within a 300-mile radius of the Tuttle plant. That means the products are fresh, and the drivers get to return home every day. The grandkids were quite excited watching the ice cream being packaged, and Anita enjoyed their enthusiasm.
The company grows the food to feed their cattle. However, when they need supplemental supplies, they buy from local farmers. Holstein and Jersey cattle produce an abundance of rich milk, and they are not injected with hormones or antibiotics. Neither antibiotics nor hormones are used in the fodder which assures that the milk is 100 percent natural. The reduced-fat milk is not fortified with powdered milk or other means: the rich flavor is produced by removing one third of the water content. That's why even the low-fat and non-fat milk has a full milk taste.
The Crawfords and my family were amazed as we looked at the processing operation through the windows. We saw cookies and bread being made; the cheese vat in operation; milk jugs and ice cream cartons being filled; even the ice cream bars being made and dipped in chocolate. My grandkids had a ball watching it happen. Well, let's be honest: I enjoyed watching the overall operation!
As I was considering the myriad factors involved with building the processing plants, growing the food, feeding and milking the cattle, processing and packaging the products and delivering them to the stores, I began thinking of our Lord. Our heavenly Father goes through quite a process as He transforms us into the people that He can use for His eternal purposes.
If we humans would more willingly cooperate with God, the process would be much more efficient -- like the Braum's company. But the human will is more complex than that. We must be individually convinced that God exists, and that He cares for us. We then go through a life-long, sometimes arduous, learning process. But the end-result -- eternity with Jesus Christ in heaven -- will be worth it all.
We enjoyed the ice cream bar and cookies at the end of the tour. Thank you Anita, and thank you Braum's.
-- Gene Linzey is a speaker, author, and former pastor. Send comments and questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Religion on 12/17/2014