The SEGway News
November 10, 2016
Page 3
Personality
Mike Kotlarski: Woven into the community
By Alexis Dierker
There has been a friendly
face frequenting local businesses, cultivating the land,
and biking the back roads of
Upland for the past 5 years.
He has enthusiastically woven himself into the beauty
and community of Upland.
Mike Kotlarski grew up
in Buffalo, New York near
Niagara Falls and moved
to Indiana when he was 12.
After attending Bible college in Knoxville, TN, he
discovered a Community
Supported Agriculture farm
called Victory Acres.
“Honestly, it was a Google
search. Working on a small
organic intensive farm combined with ministry just
seemed perfect. I talked with
Eric (Victory Acres manager) in December 2011, and
moved to Upland in February.”
Mike worked in their twoyear program called Growing Growers designed to
teach organic farming. They
had a Masters Student of Environmental Science on site
and he worked for two years
in exchange for land, education, and a living space.
Soon after beginning at
Victory Acres, Mike also
joined Stephen Payne’s team
at Payne’s Restaurant. “Stephen got me started on cooking right away because that’s
what he needed at the time.”
Mike said he has gained
such valuable knowledge
working for a small business—one aspect has been
the value of knowing and
maximizing the talents and
abilities of team members.
“Stephen learned that I
knew a thing or two about
gardening and shared his vision for starting a garden at
the restaurant. What he was
looking for was a garden that
could be really useful, not
just for flowers or looks”.
So using his experience in
organic farming, Mike set
to developing Payne’s Gardens.
“When you set out to do a
new thing, there are always
benefits that you never saw
coming.” Mike shared how
people from NPS came out
for an interview, the mayor
of Gas City took interest in
the efforts, and a local vendor offered free soil and fer-
tilizer to help get them started. “It felt like a community
effort. It was something not
just for the restaurant, but
for everyone to experience.”
Mike especially loved
this opportunity, because it
opened the doors for him to
do what he loves the most—
educating and supporting
others. He explained how
some of the workers had
never had the chance to learn
about farming and growing
before, and he loved walking
with them into a new exploration of life.
Mike seems to take this
passion for education and
understanding with him
in all things. “I know that
if I’m sitting there, frustrated trying to learn something, that I’m probably not
alone—that makes me want
to improve upon education
methods.” His ideation behind teaching and supporting people in their pursuit of
knowledge focuses on a belief that not all leaders lead
from ahead—sometimes we
need people to work alongside us, instead helping us
to find ways to intrinsically
motivate.
Mike has loved applying his curiosity about and
care for people to life here
in Grant County. “One thing
that I’ve always loved about
Grant County is the fact
that there are so many very
different people here, and
there’s nothing more valuable than our relationships—
how we share what we have
and love one another”.