2019 GATF Sweepstakes Winner’s Building is Complete!

August 10, 2020

We previously published a blog post that featured Don and Ellen, the 2019 “Giving Away the Farm” sweepstakes winners, and their plans for the Morton building. Although they reside in Illinois, they own five acres in a “nice, quite spot” in Wisconsin, and this is where they ended up building their 36’x10’x56’ workshop.

The winning building includes the Morton Foundation System, Morton’s Hi-Rib™ steel siding in beige with a brown steel wainscot, three walkdoors, an overhead door, porches, and two cupolas.

To prepare the site for construction, Don, a heavy machine operator by trade, cleared trees and brush and graded it to be ready for the building. They had initially planned on using the building as a workshop and showroom for Don’s vintage snowmobile collection, and this plan hasn’t changed now that the building is complete.

“My family owned a snowmobile dealership for 36 years,” said Don. “It’s been a hobby for a few years. I have 13 vintage sleds and a few newer ones. I fully dissemble them and then reassemble to be show quality and rideable.”

The workshop portion has windows and the rest of the building is cold storage to keep parts so they don’t have to heat it. Although Don’s work schedule keeps them from going up to the property as much as they’d like, Don and Ellen plan to be making more trips up there in a couple of years when they get closer to retirement.

The experience of building out-of-state was interesting, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but overall, it went really well for them. “Kevin (sales consultant) was really good to work with and shared the progress of the building and sent drone videos and we were able to keep up and put it in his hands,” said Don and Ellen. “We were really happy. It’s beautiful. It’s the first time someone built something for me instead of me building everything and I am very pleased.”

They were finally able to see the finished product last month. A few of their friends has already stopped by and texted photos. But in person, “we had ear-to-ear smiles. It was everything we thought it was going to be,” said Don.

Don and Ellen especially love the porches as it keeps them out of the weather and will help the snow not to pile up by the door. “The porches make the building—they finish it. It looks like a real nice place.”

As for the 2018 John Deere Gator™ XUV835M Crossover Utility Vehicle, Ellen still loves it and uses it every single day on the acreage in Illinois.

“We’re really, really happy with the process with Morton,” said Ellen. “Everyone that we have dealt with was the nicest and friendliest, and made it so easy. It’s the least stressful thing we’ve done.”

“It’s not every day you win something as big as this, it’s pretty awesome,” said Don. “It saved me a lot of work of building another barn so it came at the perfect time.”

For your chance to win the 2020 “Giving Away the Farm” sweepstakes, enter online today!

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