Weather factors into attendance at Old Threshers

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

?Any outdoor event is held hostage to the weather, that is the one thing we can?t control,? reflected Lennis Moore, CEO of the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion.

And weather did have an impact on attendance at the 2012 event which ended Labor Day.

Rain showers most of Saturday cost the Reunion not only attendance, but money, Moore said. ?Unfortunately, rain took away potential income of $50,000 (on Saturday),? Moore lamented. ?Naturally, we would have liked five days of good weather.?

Total attendance at the five-day event was 41,345, which compared with a three-year average of 42,540 people.

Saturday and Sunday are the two largest days, in terms of attendance, at the five-day celebration. Moore said Saturday?s attendance this year was 3,871. In 2011, the Saturday attendance was 6,205 (also hampered somewhat by showers) and in 2010, 9,284 people came to the event.

Attendance on Sunday rebounded to 8,305 but the amount still was 500 less than 2011 when 8,894 visited on Sunday.

Like the industry (agriculture) Midwest Old Threshers promotes, the event is at the mercy of Mother Nature. ?We have dealt with this before,? Moore noted. ?Everyone had a great time and we did the best we could. The new facilities were very well received.?

He said the event had few problems. ?We didn?t have any major problems, a lot of what others perceive as problems become routine. When you move a population (to the campgrounds) similar to Mt. Pleasant, some problems will arise.?

Campers began arriving in June although the campground did not officially open until Aug. 18. Moore said camping numbers were about the same as last year although reservations were up from 250 in 2011 to 310 this year.

He theorized that high gas prices may have helped the reunion attract visitors. ?We draw from a 100-120-mile radius and I think the high gas prices made some people come here instead of going other places that are farther.?

One of the high points, Moore pointed out, was a visit from U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack ? a first for the reunion. ?It is the first time that a seated U.S. secretary of agriculture has visited the reunion.?

Vilsack, of course, is somewhat of a Mt. Pleasant native. He was an attorney in Mt. Pleasant and served as mayor and state senator before becoming Iowa?s governor and his current cabinet post.

It takes a lot of volunteers to make an event such as Old Threshers successful and Moore said the work of hundreds of volunteers never ceases to amaze him.

?I am very proud of our volunteers,? Moore praised. ?It is an unbelievably dedicated group of people who put in unbelievably long periods of times. I would put our volunteer program up against any in the United States. We also have a lot of Iowa Wesleyan College athletes who volunteer here. It is nice to see young people involved.?