Moorhead St. University, Moorhead, Minnesota, 56560
When speaking of the 1976 Lake Region Pioneers Threshermens
Reunion, Ada Boone of Buffalo, Minnesota says, ‘It reminds me
of yesterday.’
A newcomer from Battle Lake, Minnesota, A. K. Botts, added,
‘I heard so much about it, I just had to come out and see it
From Los Angeles, California came Louis Alsaker who described
the show as, ‘Wonderful, absolutely out of this world.’
Lawrence Ziedarth traveled from Sisseton, South Dakota for the
Sunday morning breakfast and said of the Threshermens Reunion,
‘It’s pretty darn interesting.’
And a five year old Dalton, Minnesota youth added, ‘I like
the engines and the (Parade) clowns.’
On September 9,10,11,1977, the Lake Region Threshermen will be
holding their 24th Annual Reunion. It was in 1954 that George
Melby, Kenneth Bratvold and Ralph Melby did something to preserve a
dying age-an age when neighbors were, as the name implies,
neighbors, a more relaxed and conservative age-the something they
did was to hold a Threshing Bee.
Last year attendance soared past the ten-thousand mark, and
tourists from nearby farms, distant cities, and from several states
gazed in awe at the beautifully kept grounds and the finely tuned
machinery. Among the large crowd you found grandma and grandpa
vividly recalling the days of community threshing to harvest the
grain, grandchildren held in total awe by the black giants of steam
and the festive atmosphere. You found city folks inspecting
remnants of their forefather’s agricultural past, and machinery
buffs thrilled by the loud roar of the old engines in action, and
by their sides you may have found your neighbors just enjoying a
nice, leisurely day.
Thresherman George Melby, now four score and one year young
says, ‘I never, never, never expected anything like this…We
never had the slightest inkling that it was gonna get this big.
Back then we thought if we had a 1/2 dozen engines we’d be at
the end of our ropes. But now, this is one of the three biggest
Threshermens Reunions in the whole United States; Mount Pleasant,
la., Rollag, Minnesota and Dalton — Those are the big
three.’
From three steam engines in 1954 the Threshermen’s
Association has gone a long way, and every inch of that way is up.
The grounds for the reunion now encase 16 acres. Besides the steam
engines, which number over 30, there are 50 old gas tractors, a
large conglomeration of stationary steam engines, over 100 gas
engines, all of which are operable and numerous antique cars and
trucks.
In 1973 a museum was built and last year a housing for the
stationary gas engines and Blacksmith Shop and Foundry was added.
In the steam room is a 30 HP stationary steam driven engine with a
15 foot flywheel, along with other tourist attractions.
During September’s three days of festivities, there is a
parade…in which all the steam engines are displayed, a weekend of
threshing, plowing, and sawing, and a tractor pulling contest.
That’s what the men can look forward to. For the women, there
are homemaker displays, demonstrations on rug-weaving, quilting,
and butter churning. And for everyone is the talent show and Queen
of Steam coronation, both of which are held Thursday night. Friday
and Saturday nights, there is other entertainment plus
entertainment throughout the day.
The Dalton Threshers pride themselves on their past
accomplishments and the long hours spent preserving the old engines
in the rural American heritage. Says one of the original Dalton
Threshermen, ‘If it (the Thresher’s Reunion) was just to
show that I could drive a steam engine, I’d quit today. I’d
go home and I wouldn’t come back. But the whole idea is for the
young people so they can see how things were in the early days. Why
if we hadn’t of started this thing, none of the young fellers
would ever know what things were like. They’d never
know.’
And as an elderly Minnesota lady so finely put it, ‘I was
here 15 years ago, and I just can’t believe how much things
have changed…You know if I come back in another 15 years it will
probably be better still!’