"Don has two bad hips for which replacement surgery offers temporary relief, but the parts wear out in five to fifteen years. He is developing a new kind of hip replacement, a sealed lubricated joint that will reduce wear on the dissolving of nearby bones."
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Ranck's Paradise
by
Fran Alt
In Paradise, Pennsylvania, no signs advertise Verdant View Farms as a Bed and Breakfast, no sign heralds the fact that Don Ranck is developing a hip replacement device, no signs say this is the location of Sire Search, (Don's excursion into cyberspace) nor is there a sign announcing Don is adamantly pursuing a change in the current Farmland Preservation Laws - the sign out front quietly announces - Verdant View Farm.
At 5:00 a.m. every morning Don Ranck, a dairy farmer, milks his 40 Holsteins. Helping Don with the milking chores are his wife Ginny and two of their four children - Aaron and Alyssa. The family also operates a Bed & Breakfast where visitors feel the pulse of farm life. Guests often help feed and milk the cows before enjoying a breakfast of eggs, fresh milk, meats and crumb cake and home-made jams.
Paradise is a vacation wonderland and home to the Strasburg Railroad which runs through the Ranck farm, the amazing Maize Maze, and the Gast Car and Motorcycle Museum.
Besides guest rooms in the main farm house which was built in 1896, the Ranks also have a four bedroom two bath guest cottage they call "The Little White House on the Side of the Road." The house has a kitchen and dining room and is excellent for large families or groups.
Don has two bad hips for which replacement surgery offers temporary relief, but the parts wear out in five to fifteen years. He is developing a new kind of hip replacement, a sealed lubricated joint that will reduce wear on the dissolving of nearby bones.
Don is also involved in Sire Search, an international computer database which helps farmers with AI choices.
Along with everything else, he is trying to change the current Farmland Preservation Laws which encourages farmers to sell the development rights to their land permanently - to preservationists. Ranck wants to change the program to one he developed which involves five year commitments by landowners in exchange for tax credits.
Don farms the same land as his father, grandfather and great grandfather and hopes someday his children will continue the tradition.