Bonnie Grob; her son, Bishop Jeffrey S. Grob; and Chris Kirsch, the present owner of the former Grob farm, visit at the farm in Cross Plains just outside of Madison. (Submitted photo)

JAY SORGI

SPECIAL TO THE CATHOLIC HERALD

For three months every year, people around Wisconsin descend upon Enchanted Valley Acres in Cross Plains, a 25-minute drive west of Madison. When leaves hit the ground, it’s time for Halloween pumpkins. When snow falls, it’s time to get your Christmas tree.

But besides the property’s signature big red barn, there are signs and symbols all over the property and its neighboring lands that reflect how Archbishop-Designate Jeffrey S. Grob grew up, how he gained his hard-working and humble values, and how the farm helped infuse an authenticity in how he treats people as a shepherd of their faith — from the average person to the celebrity who eventually bought his family’s property.

“You can see cattle trails in the woods when there’s snow on the ground, and how the cattle had walked back and forth on the hillsides. Those still exist,” said Chris Kirsch, owner of Enchanted Valley Acres. So do the fence posts and barbed wiring that protected the property and its cattle, and decades-old shotgun shells from Bishop Grob and his family going deer hunting in November.

“How they work the land, and how they were trying to make the most of the land. That’s what we’re still doing nowadays. That’s what farmers do.”

Kirsch and his wife, Angela, purchased the property with friends in 2011 and started planting Christmas trees. They have been the sole owners since 2021 and find that fall and Christmas visitors like to learn about the farm’s history.

In the barn that’s part of the Enchanted Valley Acres complex, you’ll see old photos of Bishop Grob’s ancestors, his grandparents and great-grandparents, photos that showcase those whose values were passed on to him.

“I blew them all up into poster-size, and they’re now in the basement of the barn, and some of these photos date back over 100 years ago,” said Kirsch.

“I find it so wonderful that when I walk into the barn and I see people reading the captions of the photos and looking at the pictures, and then somebody might tell me, ‘Yeah, I remember.’ That’s a wonderful museum of sorts.”

Yet despite an early life mainly spent either on the farm or in school, the archbishop-designate seemed to have an early sense that the priesthood was calling him.

“Archbishop Grob — from what I’ve heard from some people that knew him at a young age — knew what he wanted to do from a very young age,” said Kirsch about the bishop who regularly comes back from big-city Chicago to little Cross Plains to offer Mass.

“There are folks in the area that said he would give ‘communion’ out when he was a young boy on the steps of the farmhouse to neighbors, family and friends. So he knew his pathway from a very young age … he’s been devoted to the same thing his whole life.”

Jim Tubbs, a friend of the archbishop-designate and the CEO of Lake Ridge Bank in Dane County, said the ending of Bishop Grob’s journey with the farm came with his father’s death in a plane crash when he was a priest in Chicago. He decided to sell part of the property to Tubbs. But another part of the property went to a three-time NBA champion.

“After about four years, his uncle passes away, and so now Jeff is left with a decision of, ‘Do I want to own this acreage with my cousins, or should I sell some of it?’ Well, he did something quite magical,” said Tubbs.

“He was able to subdivide some parcels out for his cousins … the remaining acreage, which is about 140 acres, he sold to B.J. Armstrong of the Chicago Bulls. All of a sudden, I’m sitting at my house, and a black SUV Mercedes Benz pulls up, and B.J. Armstrong walks out, and at this time, he’s still playing for the Chicago Bulls. I asked, ‘What brings you here?’ And he goes, ‘I just bought the rest of the farm from Fr. Grob.’ And I said, ‘How did you ever get to know him?’ And he said, ‘He was my priest at my wedding, and I really developed a great relationship.’”

The archbishop-designate’s ability to relate to people from any walk of life showcases how his varied life experiences — and how he saw God within them — have touched his life. Perhaps that, along with the values of farm life, give Tubbs the view of why Pope Francis chose Bishop Grob for the job.

“I don’t think they could pick a better person to keep climbing the ladder,” Tubbs said.

“Jeff has always been extremely genuine. He’s authentic. Truly when you visit with him, when you get to know him, that is the person that he truly is. He isn’t trying to be somebody outside, trying to overdo something. He is a real pleasure to be around, because you know his appreciation of your conversation is very genuine, and he just has been a tremendous asset in my life and a great friend.”