Threshing Bee is coming

While the 46th annual Jewell County Threshing Bee is still a few days away, there has been lots of activity on the grounds this week. Monday a Minneapolis steam engine owned by Kurt Kochner arrived from Abilene and an engine from Phillipsburg was to arrive on Tuesday and a steam powered street roller is coming from Abilene.

Moving those old iron giants is not an easy process. Semi-trailer trucks are required along with power to move the engines. A steam engine needs about three hours to get the steam up before moving and about that long to cool down after a move or task is completed.

The annual threshing show will be this Saturday and Sunday in the Mankato City Park and on the Historical Society Grounds near the west edge of Mankato. Gates open at 7 a.m. each day. Registration will be in the pavilion. However the grounds are expected to be a beehive of activity as final preparations are made Friday.

Some of the food trucks scheduled for Saturday and Sunday are expected to be in the park and serving on Friday.

The band scheduled to play throughout the day on Saturday will play for an open-air dance in the park Friday night.

The first scheduled event on Saturday is a washer hunt game for youngsters 10 and under. Start time is approximately 7:30 a.m. There will be a steam engine sawmill demonstration from 8:30 to noon. The Farmers Market opens in the main pavilion at 10 a.m. Starting at 10 a.m. music will be provided by Good Sam Band. Demonstrations for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. will include a chain saw artist, blacksmithing, hit and miss engines and a flour mill. Auctions will be held both Saturday and Sunday to sell the lumber produced by the saw mill.

There will be a 2 person crosscut sawing demonstration and competition starting at 9:30. The parade is at 1 p.m. Saturday and at 1:30 Sunday. The parade is often spoken of as an antique tractor parade but all kinds of parade entries will be accepted and are encouraged.

The Mankato Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a watermelon popping contest Saturday afternoon..

Jewell County Farm Bureau will sponsor a kiddie pedal pull at 2 p.m. The antique tractor pull is at 3 p.m. Wheat threshing and straw baling will be demonstrated at 3 p.m.

Saturday evening the Mankato Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a concert featuring the Kill Creek Rising band.

Sunday's events begin with a breakfast served by the Mankato Lutheran Church. Karrigan Dunstan will speak at the Sunday worship service. Kenny Rhea will be the worship service musician.

There will be another parade at 1:30 Sunday.

The 1910 Fairbanks Morse engine that was in the city park for many years, will be displayed both days.

It appears the old engine of continuous rather than hit and miss design is a rare creation. It is one of three similar engines to exist in the United States. The 20 horsepower engine was originally used in the Mankato power plant. After setting outside for many years, it has been moved inside and is in the process of being restored. Several of the needed parts had to be made. Historical society mechanics will be at work during the bee putting it back together. They don't expect to finish in time to demonstrate the engine at this year's show. The start up will come at a later date.

Four pages of this week's newspaper are devoted to the threshing bee. The section traditionally features stories about the bee's featured tractor or a Jewell County historical feature. This year we have chosen to include a story on windmills. The development of the windmill played a key part in settling the plains states that offered few flowing water sources.

Thanks to a donation from Mindy Ost, the threshing bee will have a record number of vendors.