When Sever “Sevie” Peterson III was in seventh grade, he learned every capital of every country around the globe. Though the formidable task was an assignment from his geography teacher, it sparked the young student’s curiosity. Until then, so much of Peterson’s life had been grounded in Eden Prairie. And while he would eventually be called home to the six-by-six mile square in the southwest metro, that curiosity blossomed into a life exploring many of the countries he learned about back in his middle school classroom. Along the way, Peterson developed a passion for fostering genuine connections locally and globally — though he never forgot his roots.

Born in 1944, Peterson was raised on farmland his grandfather acquired in 1890 near the Minnesota River. The 300-acre farm looks a bit different today than it did when Peterson was in high school. Eden Prairie Schools looked different back then, too. “There were nineteen of us, seven boys and twelve girls,” he remembered of his graduating class. The close relationships formed in those small classes shaped his early understanding of community and the importance of shared experiences, like watching sports or performances in the Consolidated School gymnasium.

After high school, Peterson earned his degree in agriculture from the University of Minnesota. There, a pivotal moment would alter the course of his life. “I was over at the U, and in one of my classes, I noticed a young man with an accent. I thought, ‘Well, that’s interesting,’” he remembered. “We got to talking. He was an exchange student from Germany, and as we got better acquainted, he introduced me to a program being run out of the St. Paul campus. He said, ‘Maybe your family would be interested in something like this.’”

That program was MAST International — the Minnesota Agricultural Student Trainee program. It allowed young people from around the world to travel to the United States for several months to train in greenhouses, farms and research labs while they studied agriculture at the University of Minnesota. After sharing the idea with his parents, Peterson’s family began hosting students on their farm in 1965. The decision created a ripple effect that shaped the course of Peterson Farms for generations.

“That program has been the biggest influence in the life of our family and the connections we have,” Peterson reflected. Over the years, dozens of international students have lived and worked on the farm. One eventually married Peterson’s sister, Gloria (Peterson) Schwammlein (‘69). Others have remained lifelong friends.

This past spring, Peterson traveled to Nairobi (the capital of Kenya) to reunite with a student he hosted in 1977, and together they visited other former trainees across Africa. Shortly before, he’d taken another trip to South America to reconnect with even more former students in Paraguay and Brazil. “That program has really changed my life,” Peterson smiled. 

Between traveling and hosting international students, Peterson built strong connections that influenced his life at home in Eden Prairie. He and his wife Sharon live in the 1920s farmhouse his parents built. Their farm, now one of the oldest commercial operations in the area, hosts an annual fall event based on a conversation he and Sharon had with an exchange student from England back in the 1990s. Inspired by what was shared with them about labyrinths and garden mazes popular across Europe, the Petersons created the first corn maze in Minnesota — and possibly in the entire upper Midwest.

The maze became the foundation of the Peterson Farms Fall Festival, which now attracts between 80,000 and 100,000 visitors each season. It’s an event that reflects Peterson’s lifelong commitment to education, agriculture and bringing people together. Families from across the state come to enjoy the maze, as well as a petting zoo, zip lines, pumpkin patches, live shows and roasted sweet corn grown onsite. Run by Peterson’s children, Aaron Peterson (‘00) and Brooke (Peterson) Michaelson (‘03), and their spouses, Nicola (Jackson) Peterson (‘01) and Mitch Michaelson (‘00), the farm is now in its fourth generation of Peterson — and second generation of Eden Prairie Schools alumni — ownership.

The family farm is not the only Eden Prairie legacy built by Peterson. His roots stretch all the way back to the Consolidated School gymnasium in the building where he studied capitals. Being in the gym “was a social time of the day,” he recalled. “And it wasn’t just the gym, it was the bleachers with it.” For Peterson, the gym was a time capsule of not only his experience in school but also of the entire Eden Prairie community. For decades, it was both a gathering place for students and a cultural hub for the town.

In 1924, the gym was one of the first public buildings in Eden Prairie to have electricity. It hosted weddings, movie nights, elections and even clothes ironing. The gym’s design was also unique: it had no support pillars in the middle of the court, allowing for an open space ideal for large gatherings. “It’s unique not only to Eden Prairie, but it’s unique to the United States,” Peterson said of the site. 

At one point, the district considered converting the gym into additional administrative space. In 1999, nearly forty years after Peterson graduated high school, he joined the Historic Gym Task Force to safeguard the building and protect a shared history for the Eden Prairie community. He worked alongside Kathie Case, Curt Connaughty, Dave Lindahl (‘77), Jan Mosman, Karen Norman, Norbert “Bert” Rogers, Jeanne Zetah and others to share how much the gym meant to the district and the city. The district agreed and decided to preserve the gym in its original form, and it still stands today at the Administrative Services Center. In 2024, during the district’s 100-year anniversary, Peterson spoke at the Citywide Prom hosted in the Historic Gym, a full-circle moment that reflected both Peterson’s and the gym’s impactful and lasting roles in the community. Today, the Historic Gym is used for Little Eagles early childhood programming and adult enrichment classes like tai chi and yoga — and the Historic Gym Task Force Peterson helped found continues to support the use and upkeep of this special place.

Throughout a journey that has taken him from hauling hay bales on the family farm to traversing the globe, Peterson has remained committed to the profound power of connection. Across continents and cornfields, from a seventh-grade classroom to a global network of learners, his impact continues to grow season by season. Peterson’s legacy proves that communities — like crops — flourish when it is nurtured with care.

Listen to Sever's story recorded as a part of our Oral History Project!