President of Jamestown-Union Hill Lions Club, 3139 Dillon Road,
Jamestown, North Carolina 27282
It was a very busy day around our house September 22, 1973. The
interest in wheat threshing as it was done in the past and old
engine restoration was thought to be a good area for fellowship and
a profitable fund raising project for our Lions Club. The club
much of my machinery would be quite a chore to move.
Preparation was started for ‘Yesteryear in Motion’ early
in the summer as we hauled and stored in a shed, wheat cut and
bound in bundles from our neighbor Brown Loflin, who has a similar
event about the 4th of July. Some tender loving care had to be
given the 1911 number 3 Geyser that had not been used in over 25
years. Since it had been stored in shelter for these years, a lot
of rubbing with a household wall wax brought out most of the
original striping and paint colors.
Some of the fellows with their restored engines came early and
set up in choice spots under the shade trees. I started a fire in
Brown Loflin’s 16 H.P. Frick portable so he would have up steam
when he arrived. We did not have any load for it but it ran all day
and really caught the eye of the spectators since he had done a
superb job restoring it.
About 10:00 Elmer Stafford’s team of beautiful black mules
decked out in their fine harness with all the shiny buttons came
into the show grounds pulling the thresher and placed it in front
of the shed where the wheat was stored. We belted it up to the 1930
10-20 McCormick Deering tractor with Bill Hill’s W.D. 40 as a
standby while David Hunt was bringing in the old Case wire tie
baler with his Fordson. When he was belted up we threshed and baled
straw of about 15 bushels then took time out for lunch.
By this time there were about 35 very fine engines of many makes
and sizes from Maytags to a 15 H. P. Witte set up and running under
the shade trees. They were representative of the owners Ira
McKaughan, Bobby Cartner, Bob Williams, Gerald Redwine, Bob Hammer,
Marvin and Raymond Scholl, Charlie Dyson, H. B. Macon, Howard
Latham, R. R. Varner, Jr., Frank, Mack and Jeff Hodges, Jack Macon,
Corbet Doster, Roy Lee Tucker, Walter Koontz, and William H. Payne
along with Hal Younts and his large collection of license plates.
While the outside activity was going on one of our club members,
Posie Collins, stayed at the carpet loom that has been in our
family some 75 years and its age probably over 100, and wove carpet
all day. About 2:30 Ray Purdue set up his music system and a team
of square dancers put on a very impressive demonstration.
William had his approximate 1/6 scale steam tractor running all
day in a small roped off area. He had also arranged to have several
members of the Furniture Land Chapter to drive in their very fine
antique cars and display them. James and Lina Riggs brought their
cider mill and made up 10 bushel of apples into cider and the
spectators bought it faster than they could make it.
Later in the afternoon we cranked the 10-20 and Fordson and
finished the some 25 more bushels of wheat, baled the straw,
cleaned up and put the Geyser back in the shed. By this time
engines were being loaded and good byes being said, always looking
forward to meeting again at another show. With the Good Lord
providing us with beautiful weather, we all had a wonderful day
sampling ‘Yesteryear in Motion’ as it was then.