Secretary, 3221 Brookshire Drive, S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan
49508
Sharon Schut’s IHC 2 HP Famous upright engine with his 25 HP
Waterloo Boy stationary in the background powering the shingle
Friday and Saturday of the third week of July is the usual time
for the Riverbend Steam & Gas Association Show
at Allendale, near Grand Rapids, Michigan. In spite of the fact
that Claude Scholema, on whose farm the show is held, was in the
hospital, our 1977 show was a great success. We thank the Lord for
the excellent weather and the good turnout of people.
Many exhibitions displayed an excellent variety of equipment,
including: two steam engines, grain separators, clover huller,
stationary baler, silo filler, corn husker, stone flour mill,
shingle mill, sawmill, buzz saw, and Baker Fan, and a large variety
of old-time tractors and gas engines. Some of the gas engines were
used for powering smaller machines such as corn sheller, feed
grinder, water pump and the like.
Grain threshing was done with power supplied by Herm
Walcott’s Emerson-Brantingham Peerless and Bud Hinebeck’s
beautifully restored 19 HP Port Huron, alternating with Bud
Rosema’s big 15-30 Model E Oil Pull and other tractors. Sharon
Schut’s handfeed thresher was powered by his 6 HP IHC
Famous.
John Huitema’s very interesting one cylinder diesel English
Field Marshall. It starts on the impact from a blank shotgun
shell.
The silo filler was run by Russ Gelder with his nice 12-20 Oil
Pull. Flour milling and selling of whole wheat flour continued
after Randy Styf’s little Huber Model L tractor was belted to
the 100 year old stone mill. The 6 HP Massey-Harris gas engine had
developed a noise and was shut down. Of course, the slow tractor
race is always a favorite with the spectators.
A number of flea market sellers increased the interest for the
women -as they searched through all sorts of early Americana, and
for the men as they searched for that badly needed (or not so badly
needed) part. (I found a pulley for the boy’s Maytag.)
Good food, provided by a local church group, and also snack
stands helped remedy the stomach discomfort, but the ultimate
solution for a hot summer day was the homemade ice cream made and
served by the ladies of the club.
As with all shows, it was a lot of fun.
