SideXSide Action - March 2008 - (Page 64) ’ve never really been a big fan of reality TV series. They have always seemed not so real in my opinion. It wasn’t until I was channel surfing one day and stumbled upon a TV show on The Learning Channel (TLC) that I became interested in a reality-based TV series. It wasn’t the sought after true love charade, the excessive partying and drinking, or even the swapping of wives that caught my attention on this particular reality show. What caught my attention was the little family that was taking control of their own lives and making the world work to their advantage. Little People Big World is more than just a show; it’s a real-time depiction of a family who has overcome adversity to create a great life and magical wonderland on their 34-acre home outside of Portland, OR. The Roloff family consists of six people, three of them being little people I their Side X Side and how the SXS has aided with their dayto-day life. After contacting the network through their website and then talking with a representative for the Roloffs, I was able to sit down and talk with Matt Roloff. From the show I was able to gather that he was a fan of his Mule but it wasn’t until I began talking with him that I found out just how much they used the machines around the property. My mind was racked with questions to ask him but it seemed like every time I would ask a question we would get locked into conversation about the machines. I’ve spent a lot of time around the various types of Side X Side machines on the market and while I was trying to pick his brain about the show, he was in turn picking my brain about machines and products. I had begun to wonder who the one was doing the interviewing, but after the preliminary questioning we both began to get into “the stories.” ROLL CALL: From front to back: Amy, Zach, Jeremy, Molly, Jacob, and Matt. Playing tug-o-war on their farm. > “I’m in the process of building a new garage so that I can park my Mule right next to my car.” and the other three of average size. Matt (the father) and his wife Amy, who are both little people, purchased their farm in 1990 and set out to build a unique place where their kids (Zach, Jeremy, Molly, and Jacob) could live out all of the adventures that Matt was never able to experience as a child. After watching the show for only one episode, I caught a glimpse of one of the Roloff’s favorite forms of transportation, and one of the biggest working aids on the farm. After seeing the Kawasaki Mule on the show, I was very interested in how exactly the family uses I heard the excitement in his voice rise as he began to reach back into his memory bank and pull out stories of games he and the kids would play with the Mules. “We had this game that we used to play where the kids would take little beanbags and go out on the property and hide. I would come down the trails and, as I drove by, the kids would try and throw the beanbags into the bed of the Mule. We would play for hours and the kids loved it,” Matt told me. Matt purchased his first Mule in 1997 after an accident had left him with a busted arm. “The Mule was one of the only units of its kind at the time and I needed something smaller than the tractors.” While Matt still has tractors on his property for the large projects, the Mules are a big part of the daily chores and projects on their farm. After the purchase of his first Mule, Matt fell in love with it and found himself driving the Mule more than any other vehicle he owned. “I really like Mule; it’s a very social vehicle. The bench seating makes it easy to get everyone onboard and you can enjoy the company of others while driving.” Matt continued on about how they would use the six-seat Mule to show their friends and family around the farm when they would visit. “We would sometimes have up to ten people in the Mule when the kids were little. They loved riding around the farm and it made it so nice to be able to show off the farm and give tours to our friends,” Matt said. The Roloffs now own six Kawasaki Mules, one of which the production staff uses to haul around all the camera equipment during the taping of 64 SIDE X SIDE ACTION MAGAZINE
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