Above:The Four Corners Site. Below: Feeder pieces.

Major flooding in 1997 and the pork industry collapse in 2009 drove development of a fabrication plant that now powers the economic heartbeat of Crystal Spring Colony.
Located a few kilometres east of Ste. Agathe, Crystal Spring was established in 1954 after splitting off from Sturgeon Creek Colony. As was common at the time, the pig barn was first to go up, followed by facilities for traditional livestock including beef, dairy, poultry and sheep.
Workers in the farm shop performed small repairs and made a few specialized items as needed in the barns.
Specialized barn equipment was purchased from a supplier in Winnipeg, says Jonathan Kleinsasser, who helped found Crystal Spring Manufacturing in the early 1980s and continues as a member of its management team.
“It was a long time ago, a small little shop and we did a bit of equipment for ourselves,” says Jonathan, who turns 82 this year.
“After having a company in Winnipeg make it, and then take it to our shop and modify it, you know – there were very awkward latch systems and stuff – and so we did our own, improved them and installed them in our barn,” says Jonathan.
It was decided that perhaps the colony would benefit by building its own equipment. Jonathan says some of those first pieces can still be found on the farm.
“They were built like the old rules that Hutterite blacksmiths used to have. You built it so strong that, when people come by and ask if you’re crazy (because) you’ve doubled it, and then you never bother again.”
The original shop has expanded three times over the last 40 years and a second facility for welding and painting has now opened at a site closer to Ste. Agathe, at the intersection of Highways 305 and 200.
Four Corners offers some key advantages, says Jonathan, including highway access, expandability and a set of three loading docks with plenty of room in the yard for maneuvering big trucks. It’s no secret that the gravel road leading into Crystal Spring is quite narrow and especially rough – not especially friendly for highway tractors and trailers.
Alongside its physical advantages, having the site well removed from the colony offers the opportunity to hire staff from the surrounding communities, says Jonathan. The colony contracted with owners of a neighbouring farm to hire the people and manage the site.
“It’s worked really well,” says Jonathan.
German instructor Irvin Kleinsasser, who had worked in the hog barn in earlier years, was chosen to guide Prairie Hog Country through the main plant and around the community.
Crystal Spring Manufacturing’s shipping and receiving area occupies a part of the building that had at one time been part of the hog barn, says Irvin.
“There was a pit here, where the feeders were loaded up and shipped. We eventually filled it up and built another shop with a warehouse in the back for manufacturing,” says Irvin, who went to work in sales and service at the plant when hog operations were suspended.
“There was a big flood in ’97 that took our lagoons out and we needed to repair those and the barns were slated for some renovations anyway. We made the decision to just leave it for now and put the people over here to work.”
Other livestock herds were also reduced or dispersed over time, with the colony’s commercial farm now focused on 10,000 acres of cropland. The dairy cows are gone, and the beef herd has been reduced to 40 cows, enough to supply meat for the colony, says Irvin.

There are still a few horses, sheep and goats, but the poultry barn has also been repurposed and the turkeys went to the daughter colony at Concord.
At around 200 people, Crystal Spring is large enough for another split, but the plant needs workers, so there is no rush, although construction is underway on a new colony at Gimli.
Most of the steel in the main plant is dedicated to construction of pig feeders and sow crates.
One of Crystal Spring’s specialties is a sow gestation crate, which is helpful for producers who are switching from crate gestation to open housing, says Irvin.
“This is called the freedom stall. She can back out and go back in. It answers the question between renovating and rebuilding.”
About 25 per cent of the work is geared to making Infocus tool cubes and Black Earth Grills. Black Earth’s high-end line of outdoor cooking equipment includes propane searing grills, propane-wood hybrids, freestanding gas grills, built-in grills and Japanese-style teppan fire pits.
Almost every home on the colony has a teppan in the back yard, says Irvin.
The fire pits are all steel, with a seasoned top and an open centre placed over an acid-washed support ring that is allowed to rust. The grill itself sits over the fire while the top plate is used as well for cooking meats and veggies.
Black Earth Grills was the colony’s response in 2009, when there was a full-on crash in the hog industry.
“When the hog industry collapsed, much worse than now, our neighbours, everybody’s losing money big time and how do you sell a feeder when you’re losing $100 a pig?” says Irvin.
The barbecue business filled a gap while the pig equipment stagnated.
Jonathan said exports of feeders and crates now soften the blow when domestic sales flag, and the crew at Four Corners works on a quick turnaround, so there is no stockpiling of unneeded pieces.
“Because we have such a diversity of parts to make, we can make them out of four by 10 (sheets), says Jonathan, walking through the storage racks at Four Corners.

“There’s big pieces as you can see on the feeders, and in between, those spaces are used for small parts that they use for barbecues or something else.”
Deeper into the main building, Irvin talks about the use of robotics to reduce the number of hands needed. Robotics improve worker safety and provide absolute consistency in fabricating large numbers of pieces.
“We’ve done a lot of automation here, like robotic arms that feed machines, robotic arms that take parts away; It’s generally thought to be slower, but it doesn’t stop, it’s safer – and you can make the same mistake over and over,” he jokes.

Through the process, parts that may become feeders, sow crates, barbecues, fire pits, sewing weights or shoehorns, travel through laser cutters, benders and a scrubbing machine that smooths off the burrs left over from cutting. Using an action somewhat like a rock polisher, the ceramic medium inside the scrubber polishes the surfaces to a smooth finish, ensuring that there are no sharp edges, and then unloads itself.
“You don’t want pigs getting hurt, getting their snouts scratched when they’re eating,” says Irvin.
Smaller pieces are joined in a robotic welder that allows one man to perform the work of three people.
On this day, Daniel Baer is using the machine to build some smaller pieces. He feeds the parts into a machine at the front of the welding booth, and then watches as it turns to the inside and performs the welds.
“It’s basically trying not to burn your guys out. These are really clean looking welds, texture proof, finger proof stuff for the barbecues,” says Irvin.
Larger pieces are trucked to Four Corners for assembly and welding.
Our tour wraps up with a visit to the school, where high school students are preparing for their graduation.
Two of the grads are outside the gym, creating a wall hanging, while two more are inside, dressing a stage in long sheets of white fabric.
A little way down the hall, Irvin opens the door on a craft room that features a kiln and shelves full of pottery.
“In Europe, before emigrating, the Hutterites were well known for ceramics. In Europe, you can find it all over.”
Irvin says his forebears had a unique type of kiln that they tried to keep secret. There are references in the Hutterite Chronicle to people constructing a traditional kiln, and then building a more common style of kiln over the top to keep it hidden.

Above: Ian Kleinsasser Below: Tour Guide Irvin Kleinsasser

A large collection, assembled by a private donor, is now housed at the Museum of Vancouver, said Irvin.
Down another hallway, he opens a door to find his brother, Ian, teaching a group of small children how to build a rocket using principles of math. Ian’s classroom is an archive of local history, told largely in a rock collection that includes arrow and spearheads found throughout the region.
A keen historian, he encourages his pupils to be curious about the world around them and to learn the lessons that will help them live fulfilling lives and become strong contributors within their community.
Another wall outside his classroom displays the poster from a play presented earlier the year as a fundraiser for the school and featuring a cast from throughout the colony.
The play is based on The Hiding Place, a play adapted from the autobiography of clockmaker Corrie ten Boom, who was imprisoned during the Second World War for helping Jews escape from the Nazis.
The only error in the production, says Irvin, is that the Jews were blonde, and the Germans had dark hair. The producers learned later that they had it backwards, he says.
Walking outside, a row of bicycles is lined up along the school’s front wall.

Preparing for Graduation and below school parking.

A brightly-coloured playground sprawls through the space between two sets of row houses and pots of flowers bloom all along the balconies and sidewalks. Newly planted trees replace those lost to a heavy storm and flooding.
“The houses, some of them are pretty old, lots of the moms put a lot of effort into keeping things looking really good,” says Irvin.
‘We do a lot of tree planting. Active living is pretty important to everyone here.”
Crystal Spring products can be found online under its trade names: Crystal Spring Manufacturing, Black Earth Grills and Infocus Manufacturing. •
— By Brenda Kossowan

The name Ian Kleinsasser might seem familiar to some
Prairie Hog Country readers, he was featured in the
Red Mittens story in last October edition.