Cottonwood, Minnesota 56229
On September 15 and 16, Mr. and Mrs. K. A. Thompson and sons
held their 15th ‘Threshing Bee’ at their farm nine miles
West of Cottonwood, Minnesota. Despite rather chilly weather, a
large number of people came to enjoy ‘a bit of
yesterday’.
Some of the highlights of the show were Lloyd Larson of
Alexandria, Minnesota with his portable sawmill powered by a Case
80 owned by Jake Boomgarden of Ellsworth, Minn. A Rumely Wing fed
thresher was powered by various steam and large gas tractors. Also
smaller machines were in operation powered by a Case 30 with Jack
Wiltman of Le Mars, Iowa at the throttle.
Beside the large threshing machinery, Garrett Havelar of Hudson,
South Dakota was operating his half scale Avery thresher powered by
a half scale 15-30 McCormick Deering tractor. This is without a
doubt the finest scale rig exhibited in the upper Mid-west and
draws a large and appreciative crowd wherever shown.
Congratulations to Mr. Havelar on completing a job which required
many years of painstaking work. Few men have the ability, and fewer
the patience, to complete such a model.
Besides the Thompsons three steam engines and Mr.
Boomgarden’s engine, there were rows of old tractors including
a 1912 40-80 Minneapolis, a 1918 30-60 Aultman Taylor, a 20-40
Case, a 20-35 Emerson Brantingham and many small tractors of fifty
years ago.
Exhibits of old hand-powered washing machines, butter churns and
other pioneer tools along with antique collections were on display.
An array of old gasoline engines nicely restored and in operation
were tended by Roy Lind blad and Thorwald Boe of Dawson,
Minnesota.
Mr. Thompson is a spry and energetic 84 years young. He was
engaged in custom threshing until the combines took over, and since
1938 has been a successful road building contractor. His many
friends hope that he will host many more threshing bees in the
coming years.
