RR 2, Princeton, Illinois 61356
At the request of Dan Shima, president of the MM Collectors
Club, I would like to submit the following report on the 1991 MM
Collectors Summer Convention held at Prairie Village, Madison,
South Dakota, August 23-25. Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Parker were the
host and hostess for the event.
Charlie and I departed from our home at Princeton, Illinois on
Saturday, August 17th. We had planned to take our time in traveling
to South Dakota, and had scheduled stops at Baraboo, Wisconsin, at
Bob Pate Implement, and then on to Prescott, Wisconsin, to visit my
sister for a few days. Bob has just moved into his new store and
shop facilities and they are very nice indeed.
On Wednesday morning, August 21st, we crossed over into
Minnesota and stopped to see Charlie and Jerry Schleeve. Charlie
was recuperating from surgery and unable to attend the convention
in Madison. We finally arrived in Madison on Thursday morning at
about 10:00 a.m. There were a lot of different tractors there
already, but very few Minneapolis-Molines. Our first thought was
‘Oh, no, Dennis forgot we were all coming!’ We went to
lunch, and upon our return were pleasantly surprised. What a
difference a little time can make. There was Prairie Gold all over
the place. The Mohrs had arrived from Iowa; they had the
hospitality tent up, and you knew for sure that everyone was going
to be in for quite a show.
The Prairie Village Board and the members were wonderful people.
The cooperation everyone extended made it seem as though there were
no problems at all. We were very sorry to hear that there was an
accident on the grounds, when the Prairie Village train spooked a
team of horses. We were also sorry to hear of the passing away of
R. S. Pate, a member of the Prairie Village Club. Our understanding
is that he had worked diligently to get the Twin City 6-cylinder 7
? x9′ Power Unit running and hooked up to power the clubs new
mill. We would like to express our deepest sympathy to his
family.
A pig roast was held, instead of a banquet, on Saturday night.
The annual business meeting was conducted, and President Dan Shima
introduced Roy Lee Book and Wilbert Kerchner, the two new board
members, and recognized outgoing board members Alvin Egbert and
Clint Kenyon for their service and contributions to the club. The
featured speaker for the evening was Harry Jones, who told of
growing up in South Dakota with his uncle, who was an MM
dealer.
Dennis Parker reported that 175 people purchased banquet
tickets, and that MM was extremely well represented by over 100 MM
and Twin City tractors and implements. Also featured was a very
nice display from the South Dakota State Agricultural Heritage
Museum entitled ‘Time Line History of the MM Company,’
showing how the company started and how many companies merged and
intertwined from the beginning on up to present day.
Sunday morning found everyone packing and getting ready for the
long ride home and back to business as usual. Everyone is anxiously
awaiting the Winter Convention at Geneseo, Illinois in February
1992, with Dale and Sharon Casteel serving as host and hostess.
We would like to thank Dennis and Joan Parker, the Board of
Directors, and members of Prairie Village for all the hospitality
and friendship afforded the MM Collectors. Everyone had a wonderful
time.