PAULLINA, Iowa | Ruth Wittrock's father used John Deere tractors and implements on their farm. Her husband, Gordon Wittrock, has been a John Deere man his entire farming career. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Donald Wittrock.
"We have three sons who farm with us and they're all big into John Deere," Ruth said.
So, it was natural for her to gravitate to ICON Ag & Turf on a Thursday night in early November. She had Christmas lists to complete.
Wittrock was one of an estimated 100-plus women who attended the second annual Ladies Night Out at ICON Ag & Turf in Paullina, one of five ICON sites in Northwest Iowa to roll out the red (or in this case, green) carpet for Christmas shoppers filling stockings, trees and wrapped boxes with all things John Deere.
Need a baby outfit? They're available in green, yellow and bright pink. How about John Deere boots for little boys and girls? Check. There are also toys, books, clocks, caps, sweatshirts, bicycles and more available in showrooms that pop with an assortment of holiday gifts.
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"Our numbers were down a little from last year when we had 135 women here for Ladies Night Out," said Ryan Newell, a parts professional at ICON Ag & Turf in Paullina.
While the numbers of shoppers dropped slightly, the money spent on Christmas goods grew, going from $5,100 spent on this night in 2014 to right at $6,500 this year.
Wines from InnSpiration Vines & Wines complemented trays of treats on this special evening, one that's duplicated at ICON sites in Doon, Ireton, Lawton and Le Mars.
"One woman from Doon goes to every one of these," Newell said. He noted that visitors to the Paullina open house came from all over O'Brien County and cities like Spencer, Alta and Cherokee.
Newell recalls that a John Deere mailbox was sold and will soon make someone's Christmas surprise. There was also at least one Green Mountain Grill purchased at the Paullina event.
"It's a fun night for me," Ruth Wittrock said, noting she has her husband, three sons, two daughters-in-law and five grandsons for whom she's shopping. "You have baby strollers, baby clothes and pacifiers, even little things like that, anything you can name and it's got a John Deere logo on it."
Gordon and Ruth Wittrock began purchasing John Deere collectible toys when their oldest son Tracy could begin playing on his make-believe living room farm.
"Tracy is 41 now, so I suppose we bought his first toys 40 years ago," she said.
Gordon Wittrock built new shelving units in their basement during the past year, creating a safe storage and display space for many of those toys, even the 40-year-old makes that the grandsons still haul out for play-time.
"If there are things that are rare now, we don't take them off the top shelf and our grandsons know that," she said.
Ruth Wittrock remembered how she and Gordon purchased their first John Deere ornaments for the Christmas tree during the 1980s. She has been adding to that special collection for more than three decades.
"John Deere used to have a pewter ornament with a Deere design," she said. "I might have the first one they made."
She now has enough to fill a tree dedicated solely to John Deere green.
In this family, nothing runs Christmas like a Deere.
