By: Jacob Kessler
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
The 79th annual National Threshers Reunion was held in Fulton County this past week. The event was held at the Fulton County Fairgrounds and ran from Thursday, June 27th through Sunday, June 30th.
The event for this year was pretty typical of years prior according to threshers staff. One big difference to this year however has been attendance. National Threshers Secretary Marcia Vaden explained that attendance was up this year.
“We surpassed previous years admissions, gate numbers are up, camping numbers are up, and we have continued to grow.”
In addition to the visitor numbers being up over previous years, exhibition numbers were good as well. A total of 719 exhibits were featured this year, including 75+ steam engines.
The star feature for this year were the Ford/Fordson Tractors and Bulldog Engines. Vaden explained that the National Ford/Fordson Collectors Association actually held their national show here this year.
Several events took place during the threshers this year. Every day at noon the “Noon Whistles” were conducted. On Thursday, threshing began at 4:00 p.m. before the Bridge Country Blue Grass group played in the grounds park.
On Friday, visitors were shown how a traction engine works and were able to participate in a tug-of-war vs. a steam engine.
On Saturday, the Kiddie Tractor Pull was held at 1:00 p.m. before the Genoa American Legion Band played at 2:00 p.m. Steam engine games were also held in the infield at 6:00 p.m. before a lantern walk was held at night.
On Sunday, a church service was held by Pastor Richard Sauerlander before the Noon Whistles. Numerous other events were also held throughout each day.
Next year will be the 80th Annual Threshers Association Reunion. Next year’s show will feature steam engines manufactured in Ohio, along with International Harvester Tractors and Gas Engines. The event will be held from June 26th-29th in 2025.
