Old Farmer's Day

08/04/2026

For more than 50 years, Old Farmer's Day has been more than a festival. It has been a celebration of our rural heritage, a reunion of generations, and a tradition that has brought families, friends, and neighbors together year after year. Since 1973, it has honored the values that built our community while creating memories that have become part of Loranger's story.

As we look ahead, it's time for a new symbol, one designed not to replace our history, but to carry it forward.

Today, we're proud to unveil the new official logo of Old Farmer's Day.

This logo was created to represent the next generation of our festival and the next fifty years of celebrating the values that have always defined our community. Every element was intentionally chosen to honor our agricultural roots, from the team of horses and country landscape to the windmill, fields, and the road leading toward the future.

At its heart is our renewed commitment: "Preserving Rural Heritage for Future Generations."

That isn't just a slogan, it's a promise. A promise that while the event will continue to grow and evolve, its purpose will never change. We will continue honoring the farmers, families, and traditions that built Loranger while creating new memories for those who will one day carry this festival into the century ahead.

The first logo carried us through an incredible fifty years.

This one will carry us through the next fifty.

Here's to the next generation of Old Farmer's Day!

Special thanks to Louve Marketing LLC for the design!

11/18/2025

Check out the article published by The Advocate from the 50th Old Farmers Day. Special thanks to Richard Meek for highlighting what is so special about our event, and y’all be sure to take note where our friend Brian Lee is quoted.

The Brunett family farm takes visitors back in time.

11/14/2025

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Brian Lee, a cherished member of our Old Farmer’s Day family and one of our longest-serving staffers, who passed away on November 11, 2025.

For more than 40 years, Brian and his family were at the very heart of Old Farmer’s Day, faithfully carrying on a proud, generations-old tradition of grinding cornmeal. In the late 1970s, Brian’s father, Dwight Lee, moved the family’s gristmill from their home in Uneedus to its new home here at Old Farmer’s Day, where it has stood ever since. Through the decades, the familiar hum of that mill became a main stopping point for visitors of our event.

When Dwight passed in 2007, Brian stepped up to continue what his family had begun, ensuring that each year, visitors could experience a living piece of history. Watching Brian at work was something special. He would stand back and quietly watch the meal bin as it collected the ground up corn, carefully adjusting the damsel until the desired consistency of cornmeal shook out below.

Anyone who knew Brian knows he wasn’t very fond of being in front of the camera...in fact, we had to twist his arm to get him in our group photo this year! However, we are so grateful to have found this treasured photograph of him. Taken by a visitor to Old Farmer's Day several years back, it captures Brian perfectly: that rugged, serious expression that so many remember, paired with the gentle heart and kind spirit that those close to him knew so well.

Beneath that gruff exterior was one of the kindest souls you could ever meet - a true gentle giant. Brian deeply cared for his fellow man, always hosting events at his farm to benefit those in need. For many years, Brian would host a benefit tailride at his home, and the proceeds raised would go to a family or person most in need.

Our hearts go out to the Lee family and friends during this time. We plan to honor his memory at next year’s Old Farmer’s Day, as the wheel keeps turning and the tradition continues, just as Brian would have wanted.

The family has announced his funeral arrangements to be Monday November 17, 2025, at Harry McKneely Funeral Home in Hammond. His full obituary can be found here: https://obits.harrymckneely.com/brian-lee