5N330 Petersdorf Road Bartlett, Illinois 60103
The 32nd Annual Northern Illinois Steam Power Club Show was held
at the Taylor Marshall Farm, which is located northwest of
Sycamore, Illinois on August 1114th. For the second year in a row,
rain dampened the soil, but not the spirits, as nearly six inches
arrived before opening day. Temperatures lingering around 100
degrees each day tested ones fortitude.
There were a total of 24 steam engines and 127 tractors,
consisting of 48 John Deeres, 32 Farmalls, 13 Cases, 10 Allis
Chalmers, 8 Minneapolis Molines, 4 Rumely Oil Pulls, 3 Olivers, 2
Caterpillars, 1 John Deere Waterloo Boy, 1 Silver King, 1 Massey
Harris, 1 IH Titan, 1 Hough Hyd Shovel, 1 English Fordson and 1
Ford. Bruce Johnson and Roger Dominy were responsible for the
line-up and registration of the engines and tractors. A safety
meeting was held daily for anyone operating equipment.
Credit goes to Phil Blanchard, Bill Karl, Sr. and crew for a
fine job of baling and threshing. Vern Abra-hamson made it
possible, with the limited supply of corn that was available, to
watch silo filling demonstrations.
The saw mill and shingle mill was a very popular display, as I
noted people watching for hours. Butch Malsch claims to have sawed
well over 4900 board feet in the four days.
Kathy Weaver, Kay Lootens, Eileen Johnson and helpers are to be
acknowledged for the fine job they did with the ladies tent. One
could witness rug weaving, basket weaving, chair caning,
woodcarving and rope making, while shopping for crafts and
gifts.
In the John Malsch Building, there were displays of the country
store, a typical old country living room and kitchen, a toy
collection, a pen collection, antique cars and farm equipment as
well as models of steam power at work.
Once again the Ole Time Style Show was held with the help of
volunteer men, women and children, as they modeled fashions of
yesteryear. Neva Granstrom provided the wardrobe.
In the Flea Market area, the usual vendors displayed their
wares. There was art work, books, cotton candy, dolls, engineer
hats, farm toys, gloves, honey, instruments, jars, knobs, lanterns,
magnetos, nuts & bolts, oil cans, parts, quilts, radiators,
springs, tools, universal joints, valves, wheels, Xmas ornaments,
yard furniture and zip code books.
If you just wanted to rest and enjoy the show, there was the
wagon rides powered by mules. And when you got hungry, there were
two food tents, Kingsway and Fay’s. For a great country
breakfast, I enjoyed Kingsway and, of course, no finer pork chop
dinner could be found this side of the Mississippi River. For the
children there were pony rides, train rides, the traditional pedal
pulling contest and a petting zoo.
On Sunday morning, church services were held at the bleachers.
Our prayers go out to those members who passed away during the past
year: Ivadell Karl, wife of Bill Karl, Sr., who served as head of
the Ladies Tent; Taylor Marshall, landlord, Parade Marshall and
dear friend; Charlie Brown, Director and Co-chairman of the Flea
Market; Ernest Stinebring, who for many years demonstrated his
scale model Case.
I encourage you to bring your family and friends to next
year’s show August 10-13, 1989. You will be able to experience
the past and meet new friends of the future.
For membership information write to the club secretary, Anne
Baker, 24747 W. Charodon, Grayslake, Illinois 60030.
