11/29/2007
HANCOCK, MN -- Mary Jo Brown always has a smile on her face. Her husband Marvin, always has a story to tell. A smile cannot do this story justice, but if you watch the video, it'll put a smile on your face. Advertisement



It starts with a goose named Kennedy and an old Honda riding lawnmower. "I bet he (Kennedy) followed me for an hour and a half. Round and round. You would think he'd get tired of it, but he wouldn't quit," Marvin Brown explains. Mary Jo and Marv own a private airfield just south of Morris, in Hancock, Minnesota.

Kennedy then started following Marvin in a golf cart, soon he was flying majestically alongside the couple's Lincoln Town Car, as it flew down the grass runway. "They will dust the side of the car with their wingtips, they'll dust the car for me, so I don't have to wash it as often as some people might," Mary Jo explained.

Now there are two birds that brush the Lincoln. Kennedy has a gal in his life. Her name is Apollo and she's not shy about flying along side the car. "I suppose its crazy, but we sure do enjoy it. You have to appreciate all the beauty of them, if you really look at their wings and across their back and the feathers and everything, it so gorgeous," Mary Jo said.

You can see each individual feather sitting in the back seat of the Lincoln at about 40 miles per hour. Once the driver hits the end of the runway, the birds gracefully land before taking a seat. Sometimes they feel like flying, sometimes they don't. Sometimes, Marvin is forced to run and clap behind the birds before they'll spread their wings and play catch-up to the car. "It's kind of unique, it's kind of a feat that we've accomplished little by little," Marvin explains.

Marvin and Mary Jo are unique, so are their pet geese, who refuse to join the dozens of "wild" flocks that fly-by daily. Tiny Brown's Airport is now a destination for private pilots, hailing from across the country.