ANNUAL SHOW PRESENTED BY NORTH CENTRAL STEAM AND GAS ENGINE CLUB OF EDGAR, WISCONSIN

It was interesting watching the people watching the work being done. There were folks with video cameras, regular cameras, sound recorders. One of the steamers suddenly made a terrible clunking sound and quit working. People came from all around to see what the trouble was. Some just watched, some made 'helpful' suggestions on cause and cure, some talked and compared this with modern machinery problems. It was neat how even a breakdown was of interest to everyone there. After a little tinkering here and there we were off and running again. 'Running' may not be quite an accurate description of our movement. We were able to talk to people quite comfortably strolling alongside us as we rode along.

When the steamers weren't plowing, they got to work with the threshing machines. Several wagon loads of oats had been cut and saved for the event. Among the antique machines used was a Red River Special owned by Kurt Umnus. After taking their turn at threshing, they ran the sawmill and cut up some lumber. There was always a large crowd gathered there to watch and plenty of wood ready to be cut.

The oldest steam engine that we found was a Minneapolis 22 HP, made in 1913. It was brought to the show by Steve Mole, Connorsville. His grandfather had worked with it when it was new and it has been in Steve's family since his grandfather bought it from its first owner. It was beautifully restored with bright red wheels and yellow trim. Some of the mechanical parts on the top were green with the embossed parts highlighted in gold.

We got a kick out of seeing the smaller items at the show as well: the Maytag washer with a butter churn attachment, a scale model sawmill built in 1945 by Norman Franck of Minoqua, a 2' scale 'Phoenix Steam Hauler' logging engine built by Dan Kiekhaffer of Colfax, model carousels, pumps and Ferris wheels run by hot air compression motors and made by retired carpenter Russell Bryan of Baraboo. We liked the McCormick Deering Type M, 3 HP, gasoline/kerosene engine from 1936 with the quirky habit of blowing perfect smoke rings and the collections of toy tractors. One display of toy John Deere tractors had examples ranging from the Waterloo Boy Model R, 1915-1919 through the 5020 model of 1965-72. You could see the development in farm machinery happening right there before you. The display was presented by Bill Proft, Waukonda and Russ Buss, Athens.

A permanent fixture at the farm is a display of household objects, cooking utensils, plates and fancy dishes, dolls and other toys, old magazines and books. We liked browsing in this area and getting a feel for how the rest of the family lived while the men were out running their machinery.

Sandi Coyle brought her scaled down version of a cook shanty. It is a faithful reproduction of the building used by the wife of the threshing foreman for her job of feeding the threshing crews. Sandi was aided in researching the authenticity of her project by finding an ex-cook living in her hometown of Granton. She has plans for additional work to be done. Sandi was usually to be found cooking buckwheat pancakes in the Pancake House run by the ladies of the Steam Club.