Meet Erin Gotwals from LCC Class of 2023
Erin Gotwals grew up near Philadelphia in southeastern Pennsylvania. A graduate of Souderton High School, she was involved in orchestra, soccer, tennis, theater, National Honor Society, and the school’s environmental organization. She also taught Spanish in an after-school Foreign Language Experience program, which gave elementary students an early appreciation for world languages.
Gotwals had a passion for languages and majored in Spanish and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at Goshen College in Indiana, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts and secondary education certificate. During her college career, Gotwals spent semesters abroad in Peru and Ecuador. These experiences deepened her passion and appreciation for “the way language learning can build connections across cultures and open our minds to different perspectives.”
Following graduation, Gotwals spent one year teaching English at a university in Cambodia as a volunteer through Mennonite Central Committee. She learned to speak Khmer while living with her host family. Upon her return, she moved to Denver, Colorado, with college classmates and taught Spanish for five years. During that time, she began dating her now-husband, Chris Meyer, whom she had met in college. Gotwals moved back to Goshen, Indiana, where she and Chris lived for several years. She obtained her master’s in Language Education from Indiana University and taught English as a Second Language (ESL) at an elementary school. In Colorado and Indiana, she also taught adult Spanish and ESL classes and led professional development for other educators.
She and Chris married in 2014, and in 2017 they moved to Coshocton County, where Chris’s parents, Ron and Mary Meyer, run Strawberry Hill Farm, selling organic fruits and vegetables, free-range eggs, and grass-fed beef. Chris had purchased land adjacent to his family’s farm with dreams of reforesting the strip-mined land and starting his own homestead. Erin and Chris designed their off-grid homestead with solar panels as their sole source of electricity, and Ron managed the construction of their house, built with wood almost exclusively from their own trees.
Erin spends most of her time with their two boys, ages three and five, and also works on their homestead, managing many of the berry crops for Strawberry Hill Farm. She grows nine different types of berries, including the common blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, and the not-so-common gooseberries. She and Chris recently planted an orchard of fruit and nut trees. As part of the homestead, she also grows and preserves vegetables for her family, selling any extra through Strawberry Hill. While her name may not be familiar, Erin’s face may be to those who buy local produce at the Coshocton Farmers Market. In addition to growing berries for the family farm, Erin is also involved in research for new crops, record keeping, social media marketing, and direct sales. She states, “It is fulfilling to work at making the land and our community healthier and more resilient for the years to come.” Although it is challenging to make a living as an organic vegetable farmer, she says it is also rewarding to provide healthy food for the community. She does see a “disconnect between what food is worth and what we are accustomed to paying for it” and is concerned about “future resilience and the unraveling of the systems we have become dependent on now.”
As if her work with her family and homestead weren’t enough to keep her busy, Erin is also involved in Coshoctonians for Peace and Equality, Millersburg Mennonite Church, and the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA). She is a regular blood donor and has also been a volunteer educator for adult English classes.
Erin decided to participate in Leadership Coshocton County as she is at a crossroads in her professional life, deciding whether to return to teaching Spanish, her first passion, or to make a career in sustainable agriculture. She saw Leadership Coshocton as a “good way to figure out what is going on and where to plug in” her skills and talents within the community. Since her first five years in Coshocton County were mostly consumed with parenting and homesteading responsibilities, Erin appreciates the opportunity to “network with other people in the community” through the leadership program.
Admittedly, Erin had “preconceived notions” about living in Coshocton County prior to coming but has “been pleasantly surprised the community is as vibrant as it is. There is lots of positive energy, and that is encouraging.” She admits it is “more rural” than where she had lived in the past, and as a relative newcomer it is “harder to feel like part of the community when so many people have lived here for so long.” She adds, “I am pleased to make the connections that I have.”
To make the county stronger, Erin stresses the need for “stronger local resilience – knowing what our local needs are and being able to meet those needs from within the community.” As she looks ahead to a less predictable future, Erin thinks specifically of the food, service, and manufacturing needs of the community, knowing that the “global supply chain is likely to be more disrupted” than what we have already experienced. She feels the more self-sufficient the community is, the better.
Erin would recommend Leadership Coshocton for others, as it’s been “valuable personally and professionally for making connections during a time of transition. It’s a great opportunity to learn about the area and see what is going on” in the community.
Category: Clubs & Organizations
