Farm will always be with teen

ST. MARYS - Vogelville has a certain magical quality. It does not exist on any map, yet one can find Black Angus cattle and Belgian horses there. The Postal Service has no listing for a town called Vogelville, yet its residents raise children and crops.

Laura Vogel lives at Vogelville and knows that even though she will be leaving soon it will always be with her.

"My entire family farms," Vogel, 18, said. "All of us Vogels live within a couple blocks of each other. We call it Vogelville. I don't know if I'll farm [as an adult] but it will always be a part of me.

"I like how beautiful the land is," she added. "I've always been fascinated by scenery. It's easy to take for granted but sometimes when I look out over the land, I realize just how pretty it really is. Farming is hard, though. It's not fun in the rain or the snow or when it's really cold."

Vogel's family raises beef cattle and produces corn, wheat and soybeans. When Vogel was younger, she was a member of the FFA and Noble Sodbusters 4-H Club. She had the reserve champion heifer at the Auglaize County Fair three years ago.

"I work on the farm and I really love cattle," Vogel said, "because they just stare at you like they're mystified by everything you do. They are fun to watch. We have pastureland, bottomland by the river, and we have four Belgian horses. They're draft horses so they're pretty big. They're really pretty and we used to show them in parades but we don't do that anymore so they've gotten lazy."

Vogel, who is a senior at Memorial High School, plans to study English at Bluffton University. She writes stories and poems and reads authors like Wheeler McMillen and Janette Oke.

"I'm interested in pioneer things and old farming techniques," Vogel said. "I'm working on a novel about the Oregon Trail and one on rural farm life. The novels, I'm not far on either. It's hard to finish things."

At the high school, Vogel takes advanced placement classes in English, is a member of the National Honor Society with a 4.3 grade-point average, the band program on trumpet and the Blueprint newspaper staff as a writer and editor.

She is a member of the youth group at New Community Church, plays the piano, and takes voice lessons. She is also a volunteer at the St. Marys Historical Society.

"I sometimes sing at weddings," Vogel said, "and I went to music camp in the summer at [Ohio Northern University]. I love [Frédéric] Chopin. I love playing the piano. It's very relaxing. Music has always been something I can put passion into. It's very therapeutic."

Vogel is the daughter of Mike and Eloise Vogel. She has two elder brothers, Bob and Jim.