Neighbors Help Farmer After Tragedy

The cookie tins are stacked atop the refrigerator at the Olsons’ north Latah County ranch, remnants of care packages sent by family, friends and strangers.

Don Olson has missed a few of the early-morning coffee roasts at the Fairco Mini-Mart lately, recovering from the sudden deaths of his daughter, son-in-law and grandson.

His farming neighbors have helped turned the topsoil on Olson’s farm while the family grieves.

Dennis and Kristina Barnett and their 6-month-old son, Justin, were killed in an Oct. 6 traffic accident on U.S. Highway 95 near New Meadows when their station wagon was broadsided by a man who was later arrested for drunken driving.

Instead of completing the fall plowing on the 2,500 acres, Olson and his wife, Dianna, have planned and attended funeral services.

About 1,000 people sat through the Oct. 11 service at the Moscow Church of the Nazarene.

Before that service, when the Olsons were shuttling between Moscow and New Meadows, where Dennis Barnett’s parents live, the farmers who routinely take their morning respite with Olson hopped aboard 12 tractors and turned the last 600 acres of his land.

Friends helped clean the Barnetts’ trailer, which the young couple had only recently moved into. It still sits near the Olsons’ place, with its view of Moscow Mountain.

“They loved it here,” Dianna said. “They were in and out of here 12 times a day.”

The parents of Douglas G. Dixon, the man who crashed into the Barnetts, attended the funeral service, with the Olsons’ blessing.

“He’s way worse off than we are,” Don said of Dixon. “He went fishing and hunting with the Barnetts’ dad.”