Overcoming hardships

 DIXON — The 2009 growing season was bigger than any other year Dixon Melons, Inc. had embarked on in its 23 years of being in business.

Harley and Joey Hettick, owners of Dixon Melons, decided to go all-out and invest in a new tractor while doubling their seed count from 35,000 to 68,000 seeds.

 It was an early harvesting season and by early August ,the Hetticks and crew were off selling their melons to different farmers markets, stores and festivals in a 250-mile radius around western Montana. Seven nights a week they returned from a long day, putting their daily profits in a safe in their basement.

 Sept. 12 was no different as the Hetticks went out to sell their famous melons, returning home late for a good nights rest, and with only about two weeks of selling left.

“That day we had eight trucks out everywhere selling melons doing very well and everyone made it back safely," Harley said.

That night Harley went to bed early. He was awoken by a scream of panic from one of his employees shouting that all of their money, all of their season earnings, was gone.

Approximately $60,000 was stolen from their safe that night, which Harley describes as one of the worst nights of his life.

After an extensive investigation, Shawna Chenowith, from the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office, along with the tribal police, arrested Dylan Rude, William Weatherwax and Trevor Nault for the theft.

“You feel so betrayed because two of the kids worked for us for several years (Weatherwax and Nault) and all of a sudden it’s like now they are stabbing us in the back. That hurts, it really hurts. How can they do that?” Harley said.

 Joey said what hurt the most was that “Willie” (Weatherwax), as she calls him, was a part of the crime as he worked for the Hetticks for three years and Joey even paid him for getting good grades in school.

“Willie was the one that touched our hearts the most and that really hurt, but we knew he was being influenced,” Joey said.

 The investigation and court hearings seemed to Joey like it took forever.  Rude was the last of the three defendants to be sentenced in the beginning of June, filling the Hetticks with much deserved relief that they can move on once and for all.

 “The last time I testified I went ‘this is the last time I want to tell this story,’ it was awful. I never want to have to go through that,”  Joey said.

The burglary changed numerous things for Joey and Harley, who were always extremely trusting of people, even hiring 35 people from the surrounding communities to work for them during the growing and harvesting seasons.  This year they are doing most of the work themselves, only hiring a little outside help. They even cut their weeding team down from 15 to a team of four girls, along with Joey.

 After the weeks following the burglary, Harley and Joey both said they were paranoid as they didn’t know how far the crime was going to go. Before the burglary, the Hetticks rarely even locked their doors during the day and now they constantly lock their doors and have installed a security system throughout their house with plans to add video cameras on the outside.

 “We always gave everyone the total benefit of the doubt and now we are a little skeptical,” Harley said. “We had a double barrel shotgun on Joey’s sewing table. I had a pistol on top of the fridge and one in the bedroom and when dogs bark at night, you get up and look to see what’s going on.”

 So what about the future of Dixon Melons?

Despite the emotional and financial turmoil the family went through in the months following the burglary, the couple endured and stayed strong and neither Harley nor Joey have any intention to stop doing what they love.

 The theft took a devastating financial toll on both Harley and Joey and their sons, Faus and Guy, who put their livelihood into the farming business.

Yet, the family endured. Fundraisers put on by friends in Missoula and Dixon raised around $15,000 for the family, allowing them to plant their crop once again this year.

 “Without the fundraisers we would have had to go borrow money and I don’t even know if we could borrow money because the economy is so bad,” Joey said.

The Hetticks had to cut their seeds in half this year, planting around 30,000 seeds. Despite cutting their planting in half, the Hetticks undeniable determination to continue growing melons will once again make them a staple at stores and farmer’s markets throughout western Montana this coming August and September.

Joey reported last Friday that a strong hailstorm in late July severely damaged a large amount of crops, providing more adversity for this tough family.

“We lost a half or two-thirds of our crops,” she said. “It’s going to be a quick year.”

Joey said the biggest fallout from the theft has been how it affected the family.

“The worst part for me is that my sons have lost their passion,” she said.

 Faus and Guy had to look elsewhere for work. Before the theft, the two men were focused on farming for a living. After the theft, Joey said the boys outlook changed because to “work that hard all year and to have it all snuffed away from you” was not easy on them.

 “It’s kind of like a cake and they (defendants) took the frosting, or a pie and they took the ice cream,”  Harley said as to how the theft affected their sons.

Despite everything they’ve been through, the Hetticks have found peace in the sentencing and continue to wake up early every morning and head out into their fields with smiles on their faces, simply loving what they do.

 And residents of Sanders County can rest easy because Dixon Melons is not stopping anytime soon.

For some fun and a taste of the delicious fruit, head to Dixon for the annual Melon Days festival this weekend.