You don’t have to kick Bill Peinhardt in the head to get his attention. But nobody ever mentioned that to a jealous little female mule named Cricket. One day in 2003, Peinhardt was harnessing a male mule that Cricket had taken a shine to. Happening upon the scene and evidently feeling that her territory was being invaded, Cricket reacted like the typical mule scorned: She kicked Peinhardt in the head. “And that’s the last thing I remember about that day,” he said. Over four years, one subdural hematoma and a bit of memory loss later, Peinhardt can now look back on the incident with a touch of humor. But Cricket, a perfectly docile creature when not in the throes of passion, probably finds no humor whatsoever in the fact that she’s living single these days. “We got rid of the male mule,” said Peinhardt. “He was causing too much trouble.” And thus concluded one of the more dramatic — and traumatic — episodes ever to occur at the Peinhardt Living History Farm. Begun around 1900 by Peinhardt’s grandfather, Otto, the farm was mainly a dairy farm operated for nearly 60 years by Peinhardt’s father, Carl. After Carl’s death in 1992, his four surviving children began the arduous and ongoing task of turning their family home into a true-to-life educational experience. And the thought of all the labor it would take to develop and maintain such a place was no deterrent to Carl’s kids. “We grew up working,” said Peinhardt of himself, his brother and two sisters. “Our parents were third generation Germans, so we frequently heard the word arbeit, which is German for work. “And it helps that we all bring different things to the table. My brother is a farmer, one sister is a teacher and the other is a physical therapist.” Nearly 200 volunteers join the family in maintaining the farm and otherwise doing what it takes to give thousands of schoolchildren a taste of farm life back in the 1930s. The farm’s main focus, said Peinhardt, is hosting a month’s worth of organized one-day field trips each year for third graders. “The teachers get a workbook and video in advance to prepare with,” he explained. Throughout the day, kids rotate among various stations, including the House Station and Garden, where they learn about keeping house and feeding the family on a farm; the Woods Station, where kids learn about trees; the Field Station, where kids get a short course on growing crops; the Barn and Barnyard Station, which features barnyard buildings and animals; and the Work Animals Station, which teaches kids about horses, mules and oxen, all animals used for work and transportation purposes before tractors and cars came along. The farm also hosts Peinhardt Farm Day, the one day a year the farm is open to the public. Families come from miles around to participate in hands-on farm chores and other old-fashioned farm-related activities like woodworking, blacksmithing and sorghum syrup making. This is also a chance to see some antique tractors and tour the farm’s museum. The next farm day is scheduled for October 25, 2008. A small admission fee is charged. “All this is an effort to maintain the family farm heritage and teach something about the environment and conservation at the same time,” Peinhardt said. A graduate of Auburn University with a fish and wildlife degree, Peinhardt originally intended to become a medical researcher. He had begun a master’s program in genetics when he decided that he would prefer a hometown medical practice instead. So he switched gears, went to medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and completed both his internship and residency in internal medicine at Carraway Methodist Medical Center (now Physicians Medical Center Carraway) in Birmingham. In 1976, Peinhardt, along with Dr. Pat Davis, started Cullman Internal Medicine, a practice that remains active and thriving 32 years later. The practice has grown to include ten physicians and nine nurse practitioners. Peinhardt is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and is board certified in internal medicine. Peinhardt and wife Carolyn, who also grew up in Cullman, have been married for 40 years. Their family includes three children and four grandchildren. But despite his grandfather status and many years of practicing medicine, Peinhardt is still a farm boy at heart. Just ask him about his favorite past times, and you’ll know. “I still enjoy working on the farm — especially doing things the way they were done a hundred years ago,” he said. February 2008