“I’ve heard it said that strangers are just friends that haven’t met,” says 61-yearold Jacob Oberholtzer. He and his family run a sorghum molasses operation in the South Fork community south of Liberty.
For about six weeks in the fall, almost every member of the family participates in the harvest ritual.
“This is a substantial part of our income for the year,” Oberholtzer explains. Jacob retired from farming two years ago and turned over the growing, cutting and hauling of the sugar cane to the boys. But the quiet man, his eyes shadowed from the sun by a small straw hat, has control over every aspect of the operation and rarely has to utter a word.
Stroking the fire, skimming the pan, checking the flow of juice, he moves from one process to the other almost tirelessly, often working until 3 a.m. Then after a two-hour break he is back at 5 a.m. to help with his share of the work.
“We were taught to keep busy, and we feel kind of guilty if we don’t,” Oberholtzer says smiling.
The operation can produce 100 gallons a day, “If we work day and night.”
“This is the bottleneck,” he said pointing to the 4 foot by15 foot pan, “but you can’t rush the cooking.
Six of his 17 children live in other states.
“The only time the whole family gets together is at weddings,” his wife, Mabel, said sadly. “But with 12 daughters, that comes around quite often,” he said with a laugh.
His wit, hard work and wisdom seem to be the fulcrum that the family is balanced on, and in turn he inspires these qualities in the other members.
“It’s different than a regular job,” he says, “but we enjoy it.”
