Threshing day at the Early’s
Theresa and Terry Early hosted their 11th Annual Threshing Bee August 25!
It was a typical prairie summer day with the hot sun beating down on the golden field dotted with piles of bound sheaths.
The 1945 McCormick Deering thresher stood ready. This piece of equipment has clocked more production hours than anyone wanted to even think about; its long drive belt attached to the dedicated John Deere tractor.
As the 2 o’clock start time grew closer, the crowd began to grow.
The Early’s team of Percherons, Barney and Hank, expertly driven by Theresa, bounded into the field with the first rack ready to be loaded.
The second rack was pulled into position and two Suffolk Punch horses, Eddy and Emma, owned by Clayton and Wendy Kunzelman were effortlessly led into place and their harnesses attached.
At that point, as if the day couldn’t get any better, a team of blonde Miniatures, Chip and Dale, raced into the field pulling a much smaller rack – they obviously did not want to miss out on the fun.
Several helpers armed with pitchforks loaded the sheaths onto the racks and when full, the team was driven to the thresher where they patiently waited for the sheaths to be thrown onto the belt and fed into the thresher – straw blowing out the back. When the rack was emptied, they went back out and their rack was again filled.
Harvey Grift was also helping with a John Deere tractor making sure all the work would be done before supper was ready.
With all the sheaths picked up and fed through the thresher, it was ready to unhook the racks, get those harnesses off and cool down.
After ensuring the horses were all taken care of, it was time for supper.
As always, it was an incredible spread with Theresa saying there were about 40 people there.
I asked both Terry and Theresa why they held these threshing bee’s, and they both said the same thing; “For the fun of it!” Terry went on to say that, “It also helps to keep the history of farming alive.”
PHOTO CAPTION: Clayton and Wendy Kunzelman of Wawanesa took part in a threshing demonstration at Terry and Teresa Early’s home at Holland Sunday, August 25th. The Kunzelman’s fabulous team of Suffolk Punch horses were just one of the teams that were ‘bringing in the sheaves’. PHOTO BY SUZANNE PADDOCK
