Wilmington, Ohio
Submitted by Warren F. Murphy, Wilmington, Ohio 45177. Pictures
were taken by Frank Thatcher, also of Wilmington.
Do you like old machinery? I don’t mean ‘junk’
machines, but tractors, threshing machines, shredders and any other
machine used on the farm, back in the twenties and thirties. Most
of these machines look and run as good as they did when they were
new. If watching these machines in action gives you a thrill, then
you know how Warren Murphy, of Wilmington, Ohio felt when he
decided to do something about it. He invited three farmers and a
bank president (who were all just as hooked on antiques as he was)
and their wives to his house for a meeting. The five men sat around
the kitchen table, and decided then and there to organize the
Antique Power Club of Clinton County. The time, was the 24th of
November, 1972. From this small nucleus, the club grew until now it
has a membership of 150. In 1974 the club was incorporated. Their
dues are $2 per person per year. There are two or three meetings a
year… like the strawberry party in the spring, and the Christmas
party, where pictures of past events are shown. One of the most
interesting events that the club is involved in, is the Clinton
County Corn Festisval. People come from all over Ohio, as well as
neighboring states, to attend this three day display of antique
tractors, threshers, shredders, balers, a stone crusher, steam
engines, cider press, a sorghum mill and dozens of craft
demostrations that depict how we lived, back as far as a hundred
years ago.
Bob Olinger on his 20-40 Oil Pull during parade downtown 1984
show time. He is retired president of the local bank.
If you have never gone to the Corn Festival, then next
September, you and your family should give yourself a real treat,
and attend. This show, which is put on by the Clinton County
Historical Society, with the cooperation of the Antique Power Club,
has something for all ages. For dad, there is an Antique Tractor
Pull in front of the grandstand. While the ladies are looking over
the many quilts and other items which fill two large buildings, the
boys can fill up on a variety of good food, as they look at the
display of antique guns, belonging to the Bull Skin Trail Muzzle
Loader Club. Or they can watch wheat being threshed.
The first two years, the club cut the wheat with a binder, and
the menbers shocked it, then threshed it on the farm. They still
cut the wheat with a binder, and shock it in the field, but now
they thresh it at the corn festival so that young people, who have
only heard stories, or seen pictures of how threshing was done, may
witness it.
The five charter members of the Antique Power Club of Clinton
County, who met in November 1972 to start the club are: Ralph
Elzroth, Bob Olinger, Warren F. Murphy, Donald Haines, and Maynard
Harris.
One of the highlights of the festival, is the mile long parade
through downtown Wilmington and back to the fairground. It’s
hard to believe that there are that many old tractors around. Some
dating back to the teens, like the Titan, Heider of Indiana
tractor, were hauled on trailers.
The grand marshall this year was Dr. Robert Lucas, retired
president of Wilmington College, who rode in a surrey with a
‘fringe on the top’, pulled by a matched team of horses.
Strung out for over a mile, were tractors, float, horses and
riders, a steam engine pulling a threshing machine, followed by a
wagon load of wheat in the sheaves, and three or four school
bands.
All in all it was quite a show, and proved that a few people
with a good idea, can still fullfill their own fantasies, while
turning back a few pages of time, for others to enjoy.
However, Mr. Murphy said that it wasn’t always this good.
Their first show was held at the fairground, with 25 gas engines,
10 tractors and about four inches of rain.
