Posted by JD Seller on September 06, 2015 at 09:45:19 from (208.126.198.123):
A friend and I went to the Mt. Pleasant Iowa's annual Threshers Reunion yesterday. They have a very nice grounds with a great permanent train displays, both steam and electric ran trains. I was actually disappointed in the rest of the show. This is the second time I have went, the last being three years ago. Now I will admit my area of interest is mainly the antique wheel tractors and this forms a bias towards them. I have little interest in the steam engines and or trains.
I like looking at old trucks and there where very few there. They are regulated to a small area behind the small gas engines. I can see why few would come back with the trucks and cars being in a low traffic area. There may have been 8-10 trucks and maybe 5-6 cars. So very small showing.
Then the old farm tractors have a LARGE display area in the middle of the grounds. Zero refreshments within easy distance and no shade. Which maybe why not many where around the tractors as it was hot this week. There where rows of tractors. I would bet around 200 or more. There where less than 8-10 owners around their tractors. So the only difference walking these tractors rows and going to the salvage yard is the show tractors have better paint jobs. LOL The tractors had ZERO things to do during the day. I was there before lunch and back mid afternoon an it was DEAD!!!! They have a tractor driving area for people to drive a tractor. It is stuck in the north corner away from the main tractor area by maybe a 1/4 of a mile. Put it with the tractors so it is more visible.
We had found it to be this way 3 years ago when we went to the show. We had went on a Friday and many stated that there would have been more going on during the weekend. So this year we went Saturday. The only difference was larger crowds of people.
I think the show has became captured by its grounds and owned machinery. It takes a massive effort on the volunteers part to maintain the permanent displays and machinery. So there is little will power left for anything else in the show. How much time and effort does it take to keep the steam engines in a safe working order??? How much training does the operators have to have to run them these days??? I know you have to have some sort of certifications and tests on the boilers every so often. Then how much time and effort does it take to keep the trains and the needed tracks in order???
So even with all of the volunteers they have it is becoming a larger issue just holding what they have let alone doing anything else. The newer shows have an advantage in that they do NOT have the older and valuable stuff to keep up. Also most of the newer shows are NOT in town either. So they can have the area for field activities that older shows like the Thresher's Reunion just does not have.
While it was a good day I will more than likely not be back for 4-5 years. I try to make different shows each year. That makes them more interesting as they change a little over a period of time.
So my hat is off to the hard working volunteers at the Thresher's Reunion. It just was not my cup of tea this year so to speak.
P.S. Some one below posted about how we should volunteer to make the show better. IF I was not 125 miles away and an old man I would. What I can do is give some free advise or ideas to try.
1) Change the tractor display area with the activities in the CENTER of the display area. This will draw people through the static tractor displays. So therefore the traffic count should go up around the tractors. This way the owners would be encouraged to stay around their tractors more.
2( Activities for this display area:
A) You have dyno put it in the center. It just takes a water supply. That can be a large tank.
B) You have a teeter totter make one just for the tractors. it does not have to hold a steam engine.
C) Egg breaking contest. You tie an egg on the drawbar of a tractor and you back up to an object as close as you can. The goal is to crack the egg but not break it. Cost?? A couple of a dozen eggs and a fence post. ( for real fun you use a few ROTTEN Eggs LOL I know a fellow that used to organize one at a show in Ohio. He kept the left over eggs from one year for the rotten ones for the next year. Man did they stink. LOL)
D) Four wheel wagon backing. This can be for owners or even the spectators to try. I have seen contests where you back through a coarse an are timed, the fastest wins. Cost? A wagon and some bales of straw for a boundary.
E) Tractor slow race. Which tractor can complete a 100 feet in the longest time.
F) Fasted hand starting contest. You start in the tractor seat. Start your tractor and get back into the seat. Fastest wins.
G) Blind tractor race. Tractors have to be in low gear. The driver blind folded. A rider telling the driver what to do. Usually go straight around a object and back again. Fastest time wins.
H) FFA restored display area. This is becoming a BIG event at the state fair so lets have it at the more local level. We all talk about how we need to get younger people involved. This is a fine way to do it. You not only are getting the kids but also their parents.
I) Get a tent set up by the activity area so people can get out of the heat or rain and visit.
J) Get refreshments in by the activity area as well. Currently you have to go way out of the display area for refreshments.
These are just a few ideas I have seen elsewhere that worked. Some of them are just knowing human nature. The current display almost seems to be designed to drive people away rather than attract them to the tractors area.
This post was edited by JD Seller at 10:37:34 09/06/15 2 times.
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