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Whistles of the past ring out as Old Threshers turns 75
Opening ceremony honors founders’ families
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MT. PLEASANT — The 75th Midwest Old Threshers Reunion officially opened Thursday with a ceremony that spotlighted the four men who first imagined such a gathering and the generations of their families who returned to McMillan Park to mark this historic year.
The Reunion’s festivities unofficially kicked off the day before, Wednesday, Aug. 27, as the Harvest Day Parade marched through aptly decorated streets of Mt. Pleasant, followed by the Don Carlson Memorial Horse Pull at the Reunion grandstand.
“I recall sitting on my Grandpa Owen Pickard’s shoulders in 1950 watching the first cavalcade of power. What a wonderful memory,” said Cheryl Wenthe.
“I’m sure the founders of the show would be very proud of what it is today,” longtime supporter Jim Sefton added.
During the official opening ceremonies the following morning, Mt. Pleasant Mayor Steve Brimhall welcomed the crowd, and Midwest Old Threshers CEO Terry McWilliams shared stories about the founders.
“On behalf of the residents of the city of Mt. Pleasant, I would like to welcome you to the Midwest Old Threshers celebrating 75 years,” he said. “We are off to a great start with the annual parade yesterday afternoon and the horse pull last night. Today, we’re in full swing, and it looks like Mother Nature is going to cooperate and be great for us. So, enjoy yourselves. Take in every little treasure … and thank you very much for coming.”
Thursday’s ceremony gave the community and devoted attendees of the Reunion a chance to recognize the legacy of the founding four — Clark Everts, W.E. “Ted” Detrick, Ray H. Ernst, and Herman E. Elgar — whose vision in 1949 created the first show in 1950.
“’Midwestern threshermen and steam engine fans made Pontiac their rendezvous as they converged on Chautauqua Park this morning to attend Dan S. Zehr's first Steam Engine and Threshermen's Reunion,’ That was the lead paragraph in Les Bell's front-page story in the Pontiac Daily Leader on Sept. 14, 1949,” McWilliams said.
According to McWilliams, the idea to form Midwest Old Threshers Association came from discussions between the founder Everts, Detrick, Ernst, and Elgar at that time.
“The four were returning from the Zehr Threshing Reunion in Pontiac, Illinois,” he said. “Considering the many steam engines and separators in Henry County, Iowa, the men decided there was great potential to host a threshing reunion in Mt. Pleasant. After several winter meetings, the election of a board of directors and lengthy discussions about a Mt. Pleasant event, the Association was chartered on Aug. 21, 1950, and the first Reunion was held Sept. 20 and 21.”
To honor these men, the Old Threshers Reunion Association welcomed descendants to the opening ceremonies, including fifth-generation carousel volunteer Lynnix McMullin. McMullin is the great, great, great granddaughter of Reunion founder Ted Detrick.
Ted Detrick was a commercial fisherman, a sawmill operator, and a blacksmith.
“He is also believed to have the first horse-drawn well-drilling operation in Iowa,” McWilliams said.
Ted and his wife had nine children, so, it is no wonder that the largest group of descendants at the Reunion belongs to his family line.
In addition to McMullin and other members of the Detrick family, six of Herman Elgar’s grandchildren attended the opening ceremony.
“Herman Elgar was an attorney, a collector of arrowheads and artifacts, a steam engine owner, and one of the purchasers of the Lewelling House, which is part of the Underground Railroad in Salem, Iowa,” McWilliams said. “Herman was also the author of the old thresher creed, which is unmodified from the original document.”
Clark Everts, the Reunion’s first treasurer, was represented by his grandson and wife, and great niece as they attended the Reunion for the first time.
“His family has a treasured picture of his wife Mary, with a toy steam engine and a wagon that Clark received as a four-year-old,” McWilliams said. “He brought his 20 horsepower advanced railway to the first show. His engine had a giant steamboat whistle that literally shook the grounds and could be heard for miles.”
McWilliams also shared about Ray Ernst whose Westinghouse separator and McCormick self rake, which was built in 1865, were among the oldest exhibits at the first reunion.
“Ray was born on a farm in Henry County,” McWilliams said. “He operated a threshing rig for his neighbors in Henry County and the Dakotas for almost 50 years.” Ernst became the group’s first president. He and his wife, Emma, had no descendants, but his engines and leadership remain central to Old Threshers history.
The crowd applauded each family, underscoring how the 75-year-old event has always celebrated more than engines.
The sense of history extended beyond the park. For the first time in years, a familiar banner once again stretched across Walnut Street.
“Seeing a banner growing up going every year as we pulled up the street was what told me ‘we arrived,’” said Joanne Rawson Lamphier.
“I tell my husband every year that I wish they would bring back that banner. Thank you so much! It was the first thing that I noticed 22 years ago when he first brought me! So excited!” said Roxanne Larsen-Veigelt.
“I always liked seeing this sign,” Julie Fritz added. “I felt we had finally arrived! Liked seeing the thank you for coming on the other side too!”
Inside McMillan Park, weeks of preparation showed everywhere. Rich and Jeanie Seberg filled the grounds with flowers, crews rolled steam engines out of Museum A, and volunteers battled rain and humidity to keep the grass trimmed. A restored 1911 open-air streetcar — Trolley 1779 — returned to the loop after years of restoration in Iowa.
CEO Terry McWilliams reminded the crowd that the 75th reunion celebrates people as much as machines.
“It’s not about the things now on display … it’s about the people who have made all [this] happen over the years,” he said. “There has been over 100 different members of the board of directors, three administrators, many staff members, countless exhibitors, and a number too large to calculate of volunteers. If it wasn’t for all of these folks and their dedication to making Midwest Old Threshers the best it could be, we wouldn’t be here now celebrating 75 years.”
Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com
