Freeland Valley Antique Power Club Show
The 11th Annual Freeland Valley Antique Power Show held July
26-28, 2002, was a big success, with more tractors, engines, flea
market vendors and people than ever before.
For the 2002 show the club featured International tractors,
including Farmall and McCormick-Deering, and 80 featured tractors
made the trip to the show grounds. Bessemer gas engines were the
featured engine, and 35 Bessemers were on hand for attendees to
view. Beyond the featured tractors and engines we had 102 tractors
and more than 130 engines on display.
One goal for 2003 is to install a compressor and connect it to
the 110 HP Bessemer engine that we operated in 2002, and we’re
also planning a new addition. The club was given a 20 HP Oil City
Boiler Works engine, originally run by steam then converted to gas
by South Penn Oil Co. These engines were known as half-breeds, and
the Oil City engine was donated to the club by Jim Klotz,
Louisville, Ohio. We plan on having the engine operating during the
show.
A fine representation of IHC, McCormick-Deering and Farmall
tractors were on hand for last year’s Freeland Valley Antique
Power Club Show held at Delmar Warne Field east of Zanesville,
Ohio.
The winner of the 1951 Farmall Cub tractor we raffled off was
Rick Grant, Nashport, Ohio. This year, we will raffle a Case VAC
tractor. The kids pedal tractor pull was an overwhelming success,
again, and we gave away a Farmall pedal tractor donated by various
individuals and businesses. We had many other donations for the
show, which play an important part in our show’s success. There
are so many people who work hard and contribute time to make our
show a success. A big help is the donations of various items and
money by businesses and individuals. Without this we could not be
successful and grow bigger every year.
The entertainment on Friday, Saturday and Sunday was great, and
attendance just keeps growing. Church service on Sunday was
impressive and attendance was better than the previous year.
We always have good food provided by the Cumberland Volunteer
Fire Department, good homemade ice cream by Cumberland Valley 4-H
Club, and soda and various other goodies by the Steak, Ham and Leg
of Lamb 4-H Club.
We had various tractor games that were fun for the participants
and the onlookers, including a horseshoe tournament sponsored by
Blind Pigs Horseshoe Club of Ohio and North Carolina. It was a big
success and some of the ‘old timers’ were given a run for
their money by the younger pitchers. Our 12th annual show will be
July 25-27, 2003, and we will feature Case and Ohio-made tractors,
along with Ohio-made engines and equipment.
So for some good times, a relaxed laid-back atmosphere and
friendly people, load your engines, tractors and whatever else you
can bring, and take the road to our show. We have free primitive
camping and electricity is available for a fee of $10 for the
weekend (no air conditioners can be run), generators allowed.
Our location is Delmar Warne Field, Ohio State Route 146, 15
miles east of Zanesville, Ohio and Interstate 70, or six miles east
of Chandlersville, Ohio and six miles west of Cumberland, Ohio.
Contact engine enthusiast Ronald Swope at: 58790 Claysville
Road, Cambridge, OH 43725, (740) 439-0959.
Spokes and Cleats Show
By Tony Leonard
‘The 11th Annual Spokes and Cleats Show was held on Aug.
9-10, 2002, in Turnersburg, N.C. The show is hosted by the Spokes
and Cleats Club and is held on the property of Ron and Mary Gooden.
We were blessed with two beautiful days of weather and the crowd
turnout was exceptional. We have several permanent displays
operating throughout the day, including a sawmill, a shingle mill
and an 80 HP Bessemer engine. We also have a rock crusher and a
cement mixer on hand and running during the show. Chester Bills of
St. Marys, W.Va., exhibited a very nice collection of drip oilers,
and the club is working on a steam engine display with hopes of
having it ready sometime in the near future. Attendees and
exhibitors alike were pleasantly surprised this year to find our
latest addition – a modern bathhouse built by club members.
Our annual show is held on the second weekend of August, and we
would like to invite everyone to our first swap meet, which will be
held on the second weekend of April in 2003.
Contact engine enthusiast Tony Leonard at: 6930 Hwy. 152
East, Rockwell, NC 28138, (704) 279-5539, or e-mail:
witteman@juno.com
Jim Case, Statesville, N.C, running the shingle mill at the 2002
Spokes and Cleats Show. Power comes from a 6 HP McCormick-Deering
Type M.
Dale Haynes, Harmony, N.C, focuses on getting his early IHC 6 HP
Titan running. A very nice, very original looking engine.
The Spokes and Cleats Club’s 80 HP Bessemer. This engine,
along with a sawmill and a shingle mill, is on permanent
display.
Western New York Maple Festival: A Long-Standing Tradition
By Susan M. Songster Weaver
For many western New York antique gas engine enthusiasts, the
Western New York Maple Festival signals the end of winter and the
beginning of spring. The show has established itself as the first
engine show of the season in this area, and it’s always eagerly
anticipated by attendees and exhibitors alike.
The first Western New York Maple Festival was held on April 6-7,
1962, but without any engines on hand. That first show was hosted
by the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and fickle spring weather nearly
ruined the two-day affair, which drew in about 200 people, many
showing up for the pancake and sausage dinners. The attractions at
that first festival included tree tapping and tree sawing contests,
and the fine art of boiling sap into syrup was also
demonstrated.
The next year, the Franklinville PTA and the Western New York
Maple Producers took over. A cake contest and exhibits dealing with
antique and modern maple producing equipment were the main
attractions that year. Attendance increased some, mostly because
the pancake and sausage dinners were becoming famous. But they
still did not have any engines.
Joe Krzemien, Springville, N.Y., displays his collection of
steam whistles at last year’s Western New York Maple
Festival.
Howard Weaver, Jamestown, N.Y., had his 3 HP sideshaft Domestic
set up and running at last year’s show.
Even so, the festival continued on and actually grew in
popularity. By its fourth year in 1966, attendance increased
tenfold, and that year saw nearly 2,000 Maple Meals sold.
Attractions included a parade, antiques, a car show, a
‘mutt’ show, a Maple Queen contest and old time country and
western bands. For the Trailerite Families in the Niagara-Genesee
Airstream Trailer Club, it was the first camp-out of the year. It
was an amazing sight seeing those sleek, silver Airstream campers
file through town, and just the sight of them got everyone excited
about the Maple Festival. But still, there were no engines.
Finally, by 1968, six years after the show’s birth, the
Maple Festival organizers got it right -they added antique steam
and gas engines to the show. A well-known local tool and die maker,
Harry ‘Chrit’ Eaton, was appointed chairman of the first
steam engine show, which included scales and full-sized engines.
Adin Reynolds of Wisconsin, one of the world’s largest maple
producers, called the 1968 Franklinville show ‘the finest in
the nation.’ And it was, now that they had finally included
engines!
Attendance at the festival increased to 8,000 by 1970, with gas
and steam engines running woodcutting and grain grinding
demonstrations. Members of the Antique Steam and Gas Engine Club of
Alexander, N.Y., were instrumental in promoting this part of the
show.
By 1973, space was at a premium. There were so many attractions,
food booths and vendors that the old engine exhibits were moved to
a field down the street across from the fire hall. This is where
the show continues to be held today.
For a few years during the mid- to late 1980s, enthusiasm for
the old engines waned, and it didn’t seem like anyone really
cared if we were there or not. To ensure a quality show, one where
people would want to exhibit and attend, we decided to become part
of the Maple Festival committee.
We soon found out that there is a lot more work to running a
show than meets the eye – it involves a lot more than simply
showing up. We held meetings months in advance, typed letters and
mailed information to local clubs so they would know the time and
date of our show. We designed plaques and buttons and prepared
newspaper releases and advertisements. Once that’s done you
still have to ‘show up’ and run the show.
On the first day of the festival we usually have to scurry down
to the grounds by daybreak to set things up. One of our biggest
problems has been keeping people from parking in the show area, and
over the years we have run into a few ‘turf’ wars because
of limited space, but we have always managed to work things
out.
The antique engine/implement part of the show is limited to
Saturday only, with the grounds turned over to the car show on
Sunday.
Presently, attendance for the Western New York Maple Festival is
estimated to be around 20,000 people for the two-day event. That is
quite an increase from the 200 attendees who showed up that first
year. And while the engine show is far from huge, we usually have
between 30 to 40 people displaying engines. It has become a
tradition for the engine guys in the area, a time of fun and
coma-raderie as old friends emerge after a winter’s hibernation
to visit and reminisce. As flywheels get dusted off (along with old
stories) the engines are fired up. A sense of rebirth and
reawakening comes with that first chuff and puff of smoke as these
‘Giants of the Past’ turn over. Seeing those flywheels
turning puts new life not only into those engines, but also into
the guys who love to see them run. It is a good thing.
The 2003 show date is April 27. For more information about the
Western New York Maple Festival in Franklinville, N.Y., contact
Howard Weaver at (716) 484-2028, or e-mail: weave@madbbs.com
Contact engine enthusiast Susan M. Songster Weaver at: 170
Lakeside Boulevard, Jamestown, NY 14701.
Northwest Antique Power Association
By John M. Edgerton
Once again our show was a success, with gate receipts covering
our expenses and even supplying a little leftover to put on this
year’s Northwest Antique Power Association Show on Sept. 6-7,
2003, outside of Columbia Falls, Mont.
For the 2002 show we had 75 tractors lined up for viewing, along
with more than 130 engines, some of them busily working away
pumping water or grinding corn, wheat, barley and other grains. One
collector also brought along a nice collection of antique chain
saws, an interesting addition to the show.
Darvin Struck, Kalispell, Mont., brought a trailer full of
engines to last year’s Northwest Antique Power Association
Show. A Galloway Masterpiece 6 (left) shares space with a
two-cylinder Novo Rollr (so named for its use of Timken roller
bearings),
We signed up 12 new members to our growing membership list
during the show, which gives us a total of 60 paid members. In 1994
we had 55 charter members, that number had dropped to 22 in
2002.
Starting in 2003, our club will no longer allow dogs on the show
grounds. Yes, owner is responsible for his dog’s behavior, but
an injured person could come back and sue the club for having
allowed dogs on the show grounds. Our insurance premiums are high
enough without taking any more chances, so we’re asking people
to please leave their pets at home or in their vehicle.
We’re looking forward to September and another successful
show, so if you find yourself traveling through this part of
Montana we encourage you to stop in and enjoy what is always a
great display of antique equipment.
Contact engine enthusiast John M. Edgerton at: 27 Loon Lake
Road, Bigfork, MT 59911.
