444 Starr Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43605
This report on the 26th National Threshers Reunion, held in
June, was sparked by a visit Earnest and I had with Mr. Ritzman. We
had stopped to visit him and you can be sure he had his hand on the
throttle when he turned to me and said ‘Mrs. Hoffer, when are
you going to write a report on your show?’ I am no writer, but
As you all know you have to start a few days before the opening
day to get the engines and everything going. Opening day, Thursday,
at 10 O’clock, we had the flag raising by the Boy Scouts while
the National Anthem was being played, followed by invocation by our
chaplain, Rev. Bare. The mayor of Wauseon and president of the fair
board welcomed us and Pres. Earnest Hoffer and Vice-Pres. Dan Heidi
responded. By that time all of the engineers had their pride and
joys fired up. Percy Sherman and his helpers built a new
teeter-totter, and to test it out two young ladies used Dan
Heidi’s 9 hp. Case engine. They got so good at it that they
were outdoing the men. Of course the larger engines are much harder
to handle.
John Limmer chose several different engines to use on the
separator to thresh the barley that Mr. Blaker, Mac Keller and
several others cut and shocked earlier in the week. The Sawmill,
manned by Dean Saunders and his helpers, gave the engines a mighty
workout. Oh yes, Earnest said to tell you that we are proud that we
had 17 different makes of engines of the total of 26 on the
grounds.
Friday, the weather gave us a bad break, it rained nearly all
day. However, that did not faze the engineers. They fired up anyway
so that the undaunted ones could at least see the flywheels turn
over. The engines could not be run around on the grounds. Our
parade for the evening was canceled, but the Wauseon high school
band gave us a nice concert for the evening.
Saturday and Sunday were two beautiful days, and we had record
crowds. Dan Heidi, our engine chairman, along with our announcer,
Harold Gay, kept the engineers and their engines busy on the Prony
brake, Baker fans, sawing and threshing, along with the parades. In
addition to the big engines, we must mention the very nice models
of all sizes, old farm machinery, Oil Pulls, and gas tractors and
gas engines, also old cars and other old equipment.
Our ladies put on their splendid programs and teas for the
ladies that accompany their husbands to our show. Their Hobby-Lobby
exhibits was a wonderful thing to see.
I guess I’ve spouted off enough, but Earnest and I want to
express our appreciation and thanks to each and everyone that
worked with us to make our reunion a success.
