History comes to life at Old Threshers

MT. PLEASANT — The Old Threshers reunion is a familiar tradition for thousands of people every year, with entertainment acts, good food and an excess of sights to see across the sizable reunion grounds.

For the week’s hosts however, it’s about keeping traditions alive after most of the world has moved on.

Wade Nelson, one member of a four-person crew manning a 19.65 horsepower steam-powered tractor circling the grounds, said the annual affair was an act of preservation as much as a celebration.

“This is history, and every piece of history should be remembered, whether we like it or not,” he said. “This happens to be one of the likable parts. You’ve got the whirling parts, the steam, it’s all interesting … this is a living, breathing machine as far as I’m concerned. We’ve got to feed it wood, we’ve got to control its breathing.”

It’s an added shared by many participants of the event where festival goers are treated to a variety of long-lost sights from antique cars to century-old trolley cars to, or course, threshers.

“It’s a snapshot in time, they don’t do this anymore,” said James Alt, whose tent showcased cinder block production using tools manufactured in 1905.

Not far from that tent, James Broadhead helped operate a circular steam-powered lumber mill Saturday afternoon. The attraction has been featured at every reunion in recent memory.

  Buy Photo

Broadhead got into the historical practice by being “in the wrong place at the wrong time” 40 years ago. Still, he said the demonstration gave valuable perspective to a younger generation.

“People don’t know how they did things back in the old days, until they come to one of these shows,” he said. “It was a lot more work back then … everybody was working.”

Bryan Bechtold came to the very first few reunions in the ‘50s as a young child, where his grandfather was one of the founding organizers. He’s stayed involved as a trolley driver since 1975, despite moving to Denver.

  Buy Photo

From the front of one such trolley car, manufactured circa 1912, Bechtold said the transport continued to run smoothly for its roughly 16,000 passengers throughout the week, giving riders an immersive look at the entire festival.

“What’s really great about the trolley is, not only is it a very unique form of transportation, a very old form of transportation, but it serves the exact same function here,” he said. “It’s transporting people around the grounds.”

On the south side of the reunion, at the historical cabin village, Brian Bacher and Howard Ludington ran a forge, where they produced lantern hangers, bracelets, fire pokers, and all manner of other tools.

Unlike the various well-preserved machines on display around the reunion, Ludington said blacksmithing demonstrations showcased a trade itself, kept alive by the people willing to learn its numerous techniques.

“The skill of the artisans — and they are truly artisans, not crafters — it’s dying out, even with all the resurgence we have,” he said.

Longtime log village volunteer Erin Neebel said the area’s immersive experience was especially important because it showcased the collaboration of people in small, agrarian communities.

Threshers themselves are a symbol of that collaboration. Too expensive for a single farmer to own, townships would usually come together to acquire one, and share it among themselves along with other duties, according to Neebel.

“For the village to operate well, we end up relying on one another,” she said. “In the barn, there’s a wood lathe where we would turn tent stakes, and the tent stakes are used yearly to put up the kitchen. The kitchen feeds everybody that’s around here. That interdependence, of how a village would need each other to be able to function, we see that.”

  Buy Photo

Fellow Log Village Volunteer Marissa Varner oversaw the area’s barn this year. She said the historically accurate sense of community wasn’t just for show, it’s felt by everyone involved.

“The other members of this group are the closest thing to family to me, outside of my immediate family,” she said. “They come from all parts of the country … This is our one chance a year to really see each other and get all caught up, and it’s wonderful. It’s home.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com