Speaker – 2026 – OSR Homesteading Festival

Alan Dewsnup

Dean — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:31:39 +0000

I’m Alan Dewsnup, a 5th generation descendant from the original Pioneers of Deseret Utah, the first settlement in western Millard County. Deseret has always been tied to agriculture as am I to this date. I am a 1972 graduate of Delta High School where during my Senior year I served as President of the Delta Chapter of the FFA.

After High School and a two year break for Mission work, I attended Southern Utah University then BYU heading towards a degree in Agricultural Economics. After some additional life experience I finished my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, which I used professionally.

I have always been involved with learning and improving my Agricultural practices whether on the farm, in the yard or garden, but also in my orchard. I have learned, first hand what works and what doesn’t work in our local weather and soil conditions. It is very rewarding to grow quality produce or farm products and realize that I am not only feeding my family but contribute to the well being of others.

Email: alsfarms@hotmail.com

Ana Valdés

Dean — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 23:30:50 +0000

A lover of nature and its bounty.

I am originally from Caracas, Venezuela, where I have been trained as a translator and interpreter in Modern Languages.

I’ve spent the majority of my life in Curaçao, where I developed an interest in plants and began growing fruits and vegetables for my own consumption in 2014—following the phases of the moon—thereby achieving excellent results when combined with sound cultivation practices.

Now in Utah, I’m enthusiastically learning about the local vegetation.

Dave Best

Dean — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:48:33 +0000

Coming soon…

Mark & Mariam Herrmann

Dean — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:34:46 +0000

Mariam Herrmann is an Educational Therapist holding a Masters from North Western University that provides diagnostic and redemedation services for those with learning and processing disorders. She also is a certified Master Gardiner.

Mark Herrmann is a biologist and a self taught bio-engineer who has developed instrumentation for molecular diagnostics. They have 3 children and 2 grandchildren, a super cute assusie doodle and have enjoyed gardening.

Kevin Vezzani

Dean — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 22:28:14 +0000

My kids would say I like helping people, that I work with remote control submarines with lots of different types of power, and say a few too many dad jokes. My wife might say I overthink solutions and over complicate the process, but get there eventually.

I would say that all the shock therapy I have experienced over the 30+ years has given me a good foundation of what can and shouldn’t be done when working with electrical systems. And a few more energy related dad jokes to drive my kids crazy. And maybe a specialized t-shirt or two.

Robin Coltharp (Koyle)

Dean — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:12:59 +0000

Robin has been homesteading since around 2010 and started making soap when she found out the body washes and bar “soaps” we are being sold and using are NOT really soap; they are detergents and they are much too harsh and full of chemicals that are harmful.
Since then she had a bath and body business and has continued to refine soap recipes to make healthier choices for her family.

Email: robincoltharp@yahoo.com

Leon Rowley

Dean — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:00:20 +0000

Leon is the fourth of six siblings and was raised in Utah, where he began learning construction early from his father, a builder of houses, churches, and schools. His father often took his sons to work with him when they were not in school. He first gave them tasks such as sweeping and clean-up, then taught them carpentry, concrete forming and finishing, roofing, and other skills.

In his youth, Leon learned music, including piano and guitar, and enjoyed sports. He played Little League baseball like many boys, loved basketball and tennis, and participated in scouting. He was careful not to let “all the fun stuff” interfere with his goal of excelling academically. He finished high school a year early and won a General Construction scholarship to Utah Technical College at Provo (UTC later moved to Orem and is now UVU).

At Utah Tech, instructors noted that Leon already had basic building experience and named him crew chief, even though he was the youngest member of his team for a project building a custom home from start to finish during his second year of study. After graduating in May, he left immediately on a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in the Chile Santiago North Mission. The mission president took advantage of Leon’s construction experience by having him repair and shore up the dangerously sagging terracotta roof of an older rental house where members of the town of Melipilla met for worship.

After his mission, Leon married Becky Francom and soon formed Leon-Lewis Construction as a self-employed partnership, building houses. For his own family, he has built and lived in three ICF-structured homes, a couple of modular homes, and the typical stick-built type. When the economic recession slowed residential construction in 1980, his skills, including Spanish proficiency, led to an invitation to work for the Church while living in Guatemala, then Panama, the Dominican Republic, and eventually eight different countries as the Church proceeded with building rural chapels “by the dozens.”

In both Central and South America, he oversaw various types of projects while traveling from home-based offices into ten other adjoining countries, applying a variety of localized construction methods and often innovating to use only locally available materials. In time, directors at Church headquarters asked, “Would you like to have a temple project?” Leon’s response was a resounding “Yes.” By the time he retired in 2018, he had been privileged to manage a dozen such projects in locations throughout both Latin America and the USA.

Email: rowleylkr@gmail.com

Eric Eades

Dean — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:29:21 +0000

I’m Eric Eades, and I have been a licensed amateur radio operator for 18 years, call sign KE7VNG. I have participated in the Salt Lake County ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services) and Utah RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Services). Most recently I was both Ward and Stake Emergency Preparedness Coordinator in Spanish Fork. My background is in computers and electronics. I am married to Shelly, and we have 4 girls, 3 of whom are out here at the Ranch with us. We have been shareholders of the Utah OSR Land Co-op since late 2019, but moved out to the Ranch full time at the end of April.

Email: ke7vng@gmail.com
KE7VNG

William DeMille

Dean — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 02:18:44 +0000

Building Communities that Build Civilization

William DeMille is a farmer. He studied Horticulture and Agronomy at Northwest Missouri University. He holds two certificates in aquaponic engineering and production from Cornell University, NY, and from GrowHaus Aquaponics, CO, and also graduated from Dr. Elaine’s Soil Food Web School and Healing Mountain Massage School.

William is a farm consultant and runs The Geogic Schoolroom in northern Nevada teaching the principles of Permaculture, Biodynamics, Silvopasture, Holistic Management, and Georgics. William owns and operates a soil testing laboratory. William is married with 4 children living in The Humboldt Mountains of northern Nevada.

Video: https://youtu.be/XgdfXccieDI
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gardening_with_william_demille
Website: https://www.thegeorgicrevolution.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/william.demille.50
My Book: https://www.amazon.com/Worry-Free-Eating-William-John-DeMille/dp/B0BW2Y4GLZ

Larry Jones

Dean — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 05:49:02 +0000

Larry and his wife Jenny have been working on preparedness since they were married over 40 years ago. Their goal has been to have enough food and preps for them and their 5 children and now for their additional 10 grand children to survive for two years. They have food, clothing, emergency solar power, clothing, etc. to survive. They even put in a pool for their water storage along with a water purification system that could provide for their water needs for several months. But what if there is some calamity that lasted for more than two years?

Now Larry and Jenny live in the Utah OSR Land Cooperative community where they live on a self-reliant, off grid homestead. Instead of just two years of preps, they have a perpetual source of food, water and power.