Courtesy photo From left, Amelia Beyer, Jason Beyer, Molly Beyer are seen in a barn at Beyer Farms in Hubbard Lake.

ALPENA – Some people in Northeast Michigan celebrate Christmas a little differently than others.

Farmers in the community, for example, celebrate Christmas festivities between caring for animals and making homemade gifts for their friends and loved ones.

Collin Beyer, owner of Beyer Farms in Hubbard Lake, said his family’s animals and chores take precedence over Christmas celebrations and it has been that way since he was a boy.

“I was raised that the animals always eat first,” he said. “We wake up and we feed the baby calves … make sure everything is full … then we come inside, we make our coffee, and we start our Christmas and open gifts.”

Beyer explained that he and his family own a cattle farm and grow crops. His family lives in the same house he grew up in and operates the farm that was passed down to him.

He said that Christmas dinner ends earlier than most people in the community because they have to make it back to the farm in time to do evening chores. Other nights, the animals get fed before the Beyer family sits down to eat dinner.

“It’s something we live our lifestyle around, taking care of the cattle,” he said. “We don’t think of it any other way. It’s an honor.”

He said that the Christmas season represents everything that his family is thankful for and how he plans on passing the farm to his children one day.

“This is a lot about what family and Christmas is about, carrying those traditions,” he added.

He said that the Christmas season is a festive time, and his family has fun, but “at the end of the day, we make sure the animals are well cared for.”

He said that times are different for farmers, and that “there are not a lot of farms anymore.”

He hopes his children will carry on the tradition.

Brianna Lynn Storms, an Alpena resident, is a homesteader and her family raises rabbits, ducks, and chickens.

To celebrate Christmas, she said she has been baking and gifting jams, pies, and various other desserts.

“Homemade gifting shows how much someone really does mean to you, knowing how much time, effort, and love was put into their homemade gift,” she said. “Bringing back homemade gifts is huge for us.”

Storms said that she uses farm fresh eggs in all of her baked goods, as she also owns and runs Sweet Like Mamma’s bakery from her home. She offers cinnamon rolls, cookies, breads, brownies, and more.

She said that her family chooses to homestead, and that she chooses to stay home, to tend to “our home, kids, and family so that our kids are learning hands-on how to care for other living beings, living off of our own home-grown goods, appreciating the time and effort that goes into it all, each day.”

“Our home is filled with love and gratitude,” she added.

Paul Werth, a dairy farmer located just outside of Alpena, said that he asks all his farmhands when their holiday meals are so that he can ensure everyone can make it to their respective celebrations.

He said that “there is no day off” on a farm though he considers it a “good feeling to help feed the world.”

Werth said while growing up on a farm, there was no gift giving till chores were done.

Overall, he said that it is a “team effort” to get through the holidays.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.