pontiacdailyleader.com ■ WEDNESDAY, August 28, 2013 B1

65th AnnualThreshermen’s Reunion

Aug. 29-Sept. 1

By Luke SmuckerStaff Reporter

A total of 15 pairs ofhorses, ponies and muleswill come to Pontiac forthe 65th annual Thresh-ermen’s Reunion fromacross Missouri and Illi-nois to participate in thefarm draft horse pullscheduled to begin at 2p.m. Saturday.

Horse Pull Superin-tendent John Hammond,who has been hosting theevent since 1996, saidthere are two main reasonsthis year’s event is unique:Female participants anda new sled.

Hammond said this isthe first time since he canrecall, that a female drivertook part in the pull andthis year there will be two

women driving separateteams. They are AngieKane out of Clearance,Mo., and Shauna Weemsfrom Mount Carmel.

“The lady out of MountCarmel is something tosee,” said Hammond. “Herhorses pull hard and shedid a really good job lastnight at the pull during theHalf Century of Progress

The Farmall tractor will be highlighted at this year’s Threshermen’s Reunion.The tractor pictured shows the label McCormick-Deering, two of the five har-vesting machinery companies that combined to form International Harvester.GOOGLE IMAGE

see ‘PULLING’ page B5

During the 51st annual gas, steam and threshing show on Aug. 17 in Pinkneyville,this team of Percheron horses from an Amish farm participated in the farm pullusing the sled that is going to be used at this year's Threshermen's Reunion.PHOTO PROVIDED

Pulling their weight —draft horse show addsnew twists to event

Each year, the Threshermen’s Re-union highlights a tractor manufactur-er, showcasing the history of the linefrom simple models of the past to the be-hemoth tractors of the present. Thisyear the Farmall tractor, manufacturedby International Harvester, is in thespotlight.

According to a Farmall website, IH be-gan experimenting with tractors in 1905.These tractors were huge, powerful andclumsy and although they were useful forlarge areas, they did not work well for thesmall acreage farmer.

The first row crop tractor manufac-tured by IH was given the name Farmall.Development began around the start ofthe 1920s, and the tractor was intro-

duced in 1924. IH was fearful that thisnew "tricycle" type of tractor might notsell well, so when the tractors rolled out,they were meant to be sold only inTexas, as to minimize potential embar-rassment if not successful. After theFarmall went on to be successful, IHbought the rights to that tractor type.When the company rolled out an up-dated version, the F-20, the originalbecame known as the Farmall Regular.

This tractor was introduced in 1932and was available with wide-front or nar-row-front end. Almost 150,000 F-20'swere built. All Farmall tractors werepainted battleship gray until sometimein the mid-1930s, when a switch to redwas made.

Year of the Farmall tractor

By Cynthia GrauStaff Reporter

The Central StatesThreshermen’s Reunionbegins bright and earlyThursday morning and oldfavorites and new activitiesmake up the list of eventsthat may be attended dur-ing the five-day event.

Bill Carroll, board mem-ber for the Central StatesThreshermen, said, as faras buildings are concerned,no new ones have poppedup since last year’s reunion,but volunteers are alwayskeeping busy with main-tenance work, whether it’spainting or any other up-keep.

He said that one bigthing this year is a newchainsaw carver.

“Mountain Dan passedaway two weeks after ourshow last year,” Carroll sad-ly said. “Our new guy isBrian Willis.”

Another new attractionwill be a demonstration oftire changing tools, towhich Carroll hopes willdraw a lot of attention.

He also said the tractorpull expanded, adding anextra day and a new class,which involves a four-wheel drive diesel pickuptruck class.

Other events include thethreshing, saw mill androck crushing demonstra-tions on Thursday, and theConsignment Trading Post,sheep shearing, Cham-paign-Urbana Spinners,an appearance by Presi-dent and Mrs. AbrahamLincoln impersonators,bingo, music from Wagon

Load ‘A Trouble and theITPA sanctioned tractorpull Friday. Saturday fea-tures the country tractordrive, the open horse show,the pedal tractor pull, mu-sic by Kim Johnson andthe Waterloo GermanBand, a draft horse pull, aswell as more baling,threshing, rock crushing,tractor pulls and sawmillwork.

Sunday showcases a

morning church service,the history of Internation-al Harvester, manufactur-er of this year’s highlight-ed tractor, the Farmall,music by Mary and theTroublemakers, the paradebeginning at 1:15 p.m., andother daily activities. Clos-ing day, Monday, will in-clude another day ofthreshing, work at thesawmill, Parade of Power,another tractor pull and

baling.As the Central States

Threshermen’s regionholds a membership ofmore than 400, Carrollsaid the group is alwayslooking to expand.

“We did get one youngerfellow on the board thisyear. It’s kind of hard to getyoung people interested,”he said, further explaining,“All the younger people

WEDNESDAY, August 28, 2013 ■ pontiacdailyleader.comB2

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THURSDAY, AUG. 29• Welcome Day10 a.m. Opening Ceremony1 p.m. Threshing demonstration

FRIDAY, AUG. 30• Education Day10 a.m. Champaign-Urbana Spinners11:30 a.m. Meet Abraham and Mary

(Todd) Lincoln1 p.m. Parade of Power3 p.m. Bingo6:30 p.m. Wagon Load A’Trouble7 p.m. ITPA Tractor, Diesel Truck

Pull SATURDAY, AUG. 31

8:30 a.m. Country Tractor Drive10 a.m. Open Horse Show11 a.m. Kim Johnson presents Frank

Sinatra Memories1::30 p.m. Waterloo German Band2 p.m. Draft Horse Pull2 p.m. Pedal Tractor Pull3 p.m. Chainsaw Artist Brian Willis6:30 p.m. Battle Creek country music7 p.m. Tractor Pull

SUNDAY, SEPT. 1• Antique Car & Truck Day

9 a.m. Church Service11 a.m. History of International Har-

vester1:15 p.m. Threshermen’s Paradedowntown Pontiac4 p.m. Chainsaw auction 5 p.m. ITPA Tractor/Semi Truck

Pull 6:30 p.m. Bellflower County Opry

MONDAY, SEPT. 29 a.m. Membership Tractor Pull10 a.m. Gaming & Fun Horse Show

Daily gate fee of $8. Daily demon-strations of threshing, sheepshearing, rock crushing, saw milloperation and soap making.

SCHEDULE65TH ANNUAL THRESHERMEN’S REUNION

see ‘REUNION’ page B4

Plenty on tap for annual reunion

Volunteers have been busy preparing the grounds for the reunion. John Erickson,right, and Larry Hassinger, two of the directors for the event, kept busy lastweek. CYNTHIA GRAU/DAILY LEADER

pontiacdailyleader.com ■ WEDNESDAY, August 28, 2013 B3

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Max and Donna Daniels willbring President Abraham Lin-coln and his wife Mary ToddLincoln to the Threshermen’sReunion Friday.

The Daniels will give a pres-entation at 11:30 a.m. at theEntertainment Building. Fri-day is Education Day at the re-union.

Max and Donna Danielshave an extensive backgroundin theater and have been por-traying Abraham and MaryTodd Lincoln professionallysince 1988.

They are past vice presi-dents of the National Associa-tion of Lincoln Presenters andhave received its awards for"Best Abraham,” “Best Mary,”“Best Abraham and MaryTeam” and “Lincoln Legend.”

They have been featured onC-SPAN Cable Network in theLincoln-Douglas Debate se-ries, the "Someone You ShouldKnow” program on ABC-

/Channel 7 in Chicago, and the"Investigating History" serieson the History Channel. Theyhave performed at the Lin-coln Home Visitor Center inSpringfield and at the Smith-sonian in Washington, D.C.They participate in MemorialDay ceremonies at AbrahamLincoln National Cemetery inJoliet and took part in thededication of the AbrahamLincoln Presidential Museumin Springfield.

They research and writetheir own original scripts, re-ceiving many compliments forthe entertaining way in whichthey present their programs.They are popular

attractions at Civil War reen-actments throughout the Mid-west, and make more than200 appearances each year forschools, libraries and other or-ganizations.

EDUCATION DAY AT THE REUNION

The Daniels to portraythe Lincolns Friday

Max Daniels as Abraham Lin-coln

Donna Daniels as Mary ToddLincoln

Max and Donna Daniels as President and Mrs. Lincoln

Chuck Porter, center, was named the 2013 Threshermen’s Parade Grand Marshal Wednesday atlunch at the Apple Tree Restaurant and Coffee Bar, by Cheri Lambert, right, president and chief ex-ecutive officer of the Pontiac Area Chamber of Commerce. Porter’s wife, Alzina, was present forthe surprise. LUKE SMUCKER/DAILY LEADER

Chuck Porter to leadSunday’s paradeBy Cynthia GrauStaff Reporter

A Pontiac native was named as the Thresher-men’s Parade Grand Marshal during a surprise an-nouncement at the Apple Tree Restaurant and Cof-fee Bar.

Cheri Lambert, president and chief executive of-ficer of the Pontiac Area Chamber of Commerce,explained that this year’s parade theme is “Let’sDream in 2013,” and the honoree, Chuck Porter,is the epitome of a person who has lived hisdreams.

“When we talk about amazing things people havedone, he’s really been able to do all of his dreams.Chuck has realized many of those things with hishorses and with his farming operations and withhis family,” she praised. “Chuck is an amazing manwho has done amazing things in his life and con-tinues to do them. He has remained very active.”

Porter, who was nominated by Robin Gallagherof Pontiac, will hold the honorary position duringthe parade Sunday.

Porter, himself, says he’s led an interesting lifefull of unique activities, from showing ponies, judg-ing horse shows and his specialty of well witching,among his favorites.

“I find veins of water for wells. I use a willowwitching stick and find the veins and that’s what

I do a lot of right now, because I’m retired,” he said.“That’s a job in itself. I keep fairly busy with that.”

He retired from farming, his seed business andtraining ponies when he was 87 years old.

“I turned it over to my oldest son, who is a vet-erinarian in Frankfort,” he said.

The 88-year-old said that he’s always lived inPontiac, except for four or five years that he wastraining to show ponies in Indiana.

He has three children, Gary Porter, a veterinarianin Frankfort, Jane Keil, a veterinarian in Elmwood,and Farrell Porter, who spent 20 years in the AirForce and is now a mechanic in Fairbury. Combinethose three with Katy Grove, Doug Grove, SarahWalters and Andy Grove, all of Pontiac, and Nan-cy Paschal, Basalt, Colo., that his wife, Alzina,brought to the marriage, they found themselveswith a large family. They now also have sevengrandchildren.

Lambert said there were several nominations thisyear and it was a tough decision to make, but shesaid Porter rose to the top with all he had done hiswhole life.

“He doesn’t do what he did to be recognized. Hisfamily is very important to him. They’re numberone. He’s always had a sense of community and hisfriends and family have always been supportive,”she said. “He’s just a great, very soft spoken manthat is very deserving of this honor.”

2013 THRESHERMEN’S REUNION PARADE GRAND MARSHAL

have their own familiesand attend many activities.It’s really hard to get new-er and younger peoplecoming. We keep trying tothink of something, un-fortunately, it’s not reallyworking.”

To become a member,all one has to do is pay the$20 membership fee,which can be done duringthe reunion at the gazebo,or by contacting any ofthe board members. Car-roll said there are no re-quirements and if ladies orgentlemen are looking tovolunteer, there is alwaysroom available.

“You don’t have to haveany requirements to be amember,” Carroll ex-plained. “All you have to dois pay your dues. We’d like

to have them volunteerhelping us maintain thegrounds, painting andthings. There’s alwayssomething to fix.”

By Cynthia GrauStaff Reporter

Central States Threshermen’sReunion attendees will have achance to listen to old timeBavarian musical selections at1:30 p.m. Saturday at theThreshermen’s Park.

Harry Wolf, leader of the Ger-man Waterloo Band, who’s homeis located in Waterloo, startedthe band 68 years ago. He saysthey have traveled to many lo-cations to perform, even makingseveral stops at Pontiac FirstNight in past years.

“We have been to 24 states.We’ve played at many places thePresident of the United Stateshas (visited), as well as two con-certs at the White House manyyears ago,” he said.

The three piece version of theband, which includes himself,playing bass and tuba, his son,Russ, playing drums and trum-

pet, as well as Barbara Johnson,who plays the accordion, haveBavarian and German music se-lections in its repertoire.

“There are 15 states in Ger-many and Bavaria is in thesoutheast corner of Germany,up against the Alps,” he said. “Itscities include Munich, which iswhere they have the largest Ok-toberfest in the world. We havequite a bit of Bavarian music.”

The band itself has made sev-eral changes throughout its 68years in existence. Wolf said itstarted out playing at VFWs,Knights of Columbus halls andAmerican Legions, which keptthem busy. At that time, theywere referred to as the FriendlyFive, later becoming the HungryFive.

“We became the Thirsty Fiveafter we became of age and todaywe call ourselves the WaterlooGerman Band,” Wolf joked.

He said they traveled around

the country for many years, play-ing festivals and other events. Itwas enough to wear out fivemotor homes. They then spent20 years chartering flights. Inthose many trips, they were evenable to perform with some fa-mous musicians.

“We used to meet Myron Flo-ren of the Lawrence Welk showdown there (at a wine festival inArkansas) and he would playwith our band,” Wolf remem-bered.

The band, complete in thetraditional Bavarian attire, in-cluding lederhosen, plays theirsongs, as well as explains the sto-ry behind each selection.

“We have lots of entertain-ment to go along with it,” he as-serted. “The name of the job is‘Don’t lose your crowd.’ If we losesomeone, we wonder why they’releaving. That’s what we work atto make sure we keep people andwe’re quite interesting.”

Other traditional German ad-ditions to the show include in-struments. Wolf ’s son plays thesaw, a glockenspiel (a Germanxylophone) and a G'Lächter(wooden laughter), which is alsoa member of the xylophone fam-ily. Wolf himself plays an alphornand a stumpf fiddle.

The band will also make anappearance in Sunday’s parade,as Wolf said he built a float 25years ago so they can appear inparades as well as shows.

“Last year we had it inPhiladelphia and the year beforewe had it in Manhattan. On theFourth of July, we had six jobs inthe Chicago area,” he said.

Aside from the appearances atthe reunion and in the parade,they have also been booked toplay a show at Evenglow LodgeSaturday evening.

“We love our crowds and theycan tell it,” Wolf said. “We hopewe make people feel like they’vespent a little time in Germany.”

WEDNESDAY, August 28, 2013 ■ pontiacdailyleader.comB4

REUNIONfrom Page B2

Renowned German band to entertain

Harry Wolf and Barbara Johnson make up two-thirds of the Ger-man Waterloo Band. Wolf plays bass and tuba, Johnson playsthe accordion and Wolf’s son, Russ, plays drums and trumpet.PHOTO PROVIDED

Harry Wolf and Barbara Johnson perform as the German Waterloo Band on a highly decoratedfloat that serves as their stage. PHOTO PROVIDED

SATURDAY AT THE THRESHERMEN’S REUNION

Don’t miss the reunion!

Show in Rantoul.”The superintendent said

he has also decided to usea different sled this yeardue to the fact that it iseasier to pull for the ponyteams and because he saidthe dirt in Pontiac pullshard, meaning the othersled he uses doesn’t slidethrough the dirt assmoothly.

“Pontiac is the hardestpulling track we have,”said Hammond. “My oth-er sled is used for placeswhere the track pulls easy;we’ll see if this makes a dif-ference.”

The weight set on thesled starts at 1,000 poundsless than the team’sweight. So a team thatweighs in at 2,500 poundswill initially pull 1,500pounds. For each pull, thesled must be pulled 20feet.

In contrast, at the Illi-nois State Fair they host a

professional horse pullwhere teams pull 27 and ahalf feet and the initialsled weight starts at 500pounds over the teamscombined weight. Ham-mond says the reason theypull further and moreweight at the professionalpulls is because in the1920s, the University ofIllinois came out with afigure that a horse at max-imum potential could pulla full load 27 and a halffeet. The pulling distancevaries in other places, too.In Utah and Idaho for in-stance, Hammond saysthey only pull a distance of6 feet. In Missouri, it’susually between 15 and20 feet, depending on theevent and in Iowa, it isstrictly 20 feet.

“At the farm pull we gowith 20 feet because thesefarm horses’ legs will giveout before they get to 27and a half,” said Ham-mond. “We try to make itso everybody can competethat wants to.”

The cement blocks on

the sleds weigh between38 and 42 pounds each.For every 100 pounds, theteams gain two blocks.The event is not a race.Teams pull one after theother until each team hasmade one pull. There is anopportunity to re-pull af-ter a failed attempt, butmost teams only pull once.After each team haspulled, the sled is reloadedwith an additional 500pounds and teams pullagain. It takes about 15 to20 minutes per round ini-tially, but that amount oftime gets shorter as elim-ination whittles down par-ticipants to only two orthree teams. At that point,Hammond says one teamunhitches and in threeminutes the next teamhitches on.

“You don’t have a lot oftime to wait at the end,”said Hammond.

Wherever the sled is sit-ting when a team stops,the next team takes it fromthere. The sled moves intwo directions with hitch-

es on either end and teamsalways have to go in the di-rection the sled was head-ed, not backtrack throughthe overturned ground be-hind it.

In the world of horsepulling, there is a differ-ence between profession-al pulls and farm pulls.Most of it is just as itsounds, the farm pulls arefor horses that work onmostly Amish farmsthroughout the year anddo pulls on the side. Theprofessional pull horsesare used strictly for pullingevents. In professionalevents, only the winnerscollect prize money andthe pots are large. How-ever, in farm pulls every-one — whether they getdead last or first place —comes away with the sameamount of money for par-ticipating.

Many of the teams atthis year’s event will comefrom Amish farms. Often,the horse owner loansthem to the Amish fortheir work and then picks

them up for farm horsepulls. Hammond said oncethey are finished, the own-ers bring the horses rightback to the Amish farms.

“We’ll more than likelyhave a couple pony orminiature horse teamscoming up from betweenClarence and Hannibal,Mo. I am also hoping for ateam from Pinckneyville,”said Hammond. “Most ofthese teams were inRantoul for the pull andwill come up for the pull inPontiac. The Amish kidswho drive some of theteams like Pontiac becauseit’s a steam show. Their re-ligious practices keepthem away from the bigarena events.”

Hammond chooses tohost a farm pull in Ponti-ac instead of a profession-al pull for many reasons.One is due to the fact thatPontiac doesn’t have anenclosed arena to host theevent.

“If we held a profes-sional horse pull and oneof the horses were to getloose, it could put the oth-er horses or the judges injeopardy,” said Hammond.“It has nothing to do withthe size of the arena, it’sbecause Pontiac doesn’thave the heavy fences torestrain the horses ifsomething were to gowrong. At the state fair

this year, we had a horseget loose and if it wouldn’thave been in an enclosedarena, it could have been abad situation. When ahorse sees a wall, theydon’t cause you as muchtrouble as they do if theysee open spaces.”

Another reason is be-cause there are more farmpulling teams than pro-fessional pulling teams inthe area. Hammond theo-rizes if Pontiac held a pro-fessional pull at theThreshermen’s reunion,they would be lucky tohave 12 pairs of horses.As an example, he said 30years ago there were atleast 30 pairs of horses atthe state fair. This year, hesaid they had 16 pairs. Hesays the reason there arefewer professional horsepull teams is due to thefact that the owners aregetting older and therejust aren’t young peopleinterested in the event.

“It’s such a great event,”said Hammond. “But it’snot really cost-effective tohave a horse that is onlyused for pulling eventsthey may or may not winand not many people usehorses for plowing theirfields anymore. I hopepeople will come out andenjoy our event on Satur-day because it may not al-ways be there to enjoy.”

Kimberly K. Johnson takesthe Threshermen’s Reunionstage at 11 a.m. Saturday, bring-ing along memories of FrankSinatra.

Johnson is from Woodridgeand she will be singing andplaying the piano — presentinga timeline of events in the lifeof Sinatra, along with singinghis music — from his very firsthit song, to the song that is not-ed on his tombstone. Some ofSinatra’s most well-knownsongs include: “New York, NewYork,” “My Way,” “Come Fly

With Me,” “That’s Life,”“Strangers in the Night,” and“Young at Heart.”

Johnson has enjoyed playingpiano and singing from an ear-ly age. She started taking pianolessons at the age of 4, and be-gan teaching when just in theseventh grade.

She currently teaches pianoand voice, privately, and is theorganist and choir director atSt. John United Church ofChrist in Naperville. She alsotravels and performs musi-cal/historical shows across Illi-

nois, performing music of allkinds, from classical to countryand music of the "big band" era.

Her vocal background in-cludes being a member of theSweet Adelines, theChicagoland Chorale (whichtoured Europe), the MethodistFestival Choir (which touredEurope and England), and theNew Classic Singers of Glen El-lyn (with whom she was able tosing with Andy Williams).

In March of this year, John-son toured with the St. Grego-ry the Great Choir of Chicago to

Italy (singing with the Vati-can choir for their 500th an-niversary.) She was with thechoir, in St. Peter's Square,when Pope Francis made hisfirst appearance from the Papalapartment window.

She also judges private mu-sic competitions, the IllinoisMusic Association Contest inChicago, Grandquist MusicCompetition in Geneva, IllinoisGrade School Music Associa-tion contests, and the IllinoisJunior High School Music As-sociation contests.

PULLINGfrom Page A1

pontiacdailyleader.com WEDNESDAY, August 28, 2013 B5

Johnson to evoke memories of Sinatra

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SATURDAY ENTERTAINMENT AT THRESHERMEN’S REUNION

Kimberly Johnson

A Belgian horses participates in a Peoria event. PHOTO PROVIDED

The Champaign-Ur-bana Spinners & WeaversGuild began as "The Spin-ners & Weavers Club" in ameeting attended byeleven local women in De-cember of 1950.

The women agreed tomeet on the first Tuesdayafternoon each month todiscuss examples of weav-ing, their own work andpublications about weav-ing.

Annual dues of one dol-lar were established atthat meeting. By 1956 thegroup had 33 membersand the dues had risen to4 dollars. In the late 1960sthere was a general resur-gence in interest in crafts,and the membershipsurged as well. By the ear-ly 1990s the Guild hadgrown to about sixtymembers who each paid a$15 membership fee. Theystarted the 21st centurywith over seventy mem-bers.

The first public weavingexhibit was held in amember's studio on a Sat-urday afternoon in May1953. Thirty-five peopleexhibited their work to

some 300 visitors. Thisspring exhibit continuedthrough the years and thegroup also displayed itswork in local churchesand libraries, at streetfairs, at the Illinois StateMuseum in Springfield,in galleries, at nationaland regional weaving con-ferences and in other ven-ues.

In the early years thework was for exhibit only,not for sale. Later, saleswere allowed on a limitedbasis. Today's annual showand sale began in the late1960s when a small group

of members put togetheran invitational pre-Christ-mas sale which they heldin the house of a member.Not long after, the salewent "public" and hasbeen held in differentplaces over the years.

Although the emphasisremains on spinning andweaving, they are inter-ested in many facets ofthe world of fiber. TheGuild continues to adaptto member’s needs andinterests.

Rarely does a club sur-vive for half a century, butthe spinners and weavers

of Champaign-Urbanahave been meeting regu-

larly for a full 50 years,continuing to celebrate

the longevity and vitalityof the craft.

WEDNESDAY, August 28, 2013 ■ pontiacdailyleader.comB6

Performing opening night at 6:30p.m., Wagon Load A Trouble is a bandfrom Bloomington. They enjoy puttinga new spin on old songs. What makesthem a great fit for the Threshermen’s

Reunion is that they specialize in trans-portation songs. They’re all about planes,trains and automobiles.

The band delivers a main dish of highcholesterol classic country, with a serv-

ing of deep dish rockabilly, a side orderof Midwestern swing and a long tall glassof anything ‘bout bein’ on the road. It’sthe Bakersfield sound and the Nashvillesound mixed in a pot and served up hot.

A Wagon Load A Trouble includes members, from left, Clay Johnson, Larry Timm, Travis Morr, Diane Quijano, Ed Quijanoand Tom Morr. PHOTO PROVIDED

Area band making 1st reunion appearanceFRIDAY ENTERTAINMENT AT THRESHERMEN’S REUNION

The annual Threshermen’s Reunionhosts two horse shows each year, theclassic horse show, highlighting specificwalks/trots on Saturday and the funshow, featuring barrel racing and othercontests, on Monday.

Both children and adults may enterthese contests, which attract dozens ofparticipants each year.

For classic show information, contactDeb Trainor at 815-848-1026 and for thefun show, contact Jenna Bahler at 815-848-6502.

Additionally, the sixth annual CountryTractor Drive will roll out from Thresh-ermen’s Reunion Park at 8:30 a.m. Sat-urday.

The tractors will return around noonfollowing a 35-mile drive around theLivingston County countryside.

The minimum speed is 10 mph.A $10 sign-up fee can be paid the

morning of the event.Drives are to bring their tractors

through the south exhibitor’s gates whenarriving at the park. Trailers are to be lefton the west side of the grounds. Partici-pation averages around 60 tractors.

Horse shows, tractor driveyearly favorites

Members of the Champaign-Urbana Spinners & Weavers Guild hold demonstrations during Friday’s Education Day at the Threshermen’sReunion. They will be weaving their brand of magic at 10 a.m. PHOTO PROVIDED

Guildweavesmagic

Golf cart rentals willagain be available duringthe Central States Thresh-ermen’s Reunion.

For a two-passengercart, rental is $35 with atwo-hour minimum, $45for four hours and $70 allday. For the entire event,rental is $245. Prices forthe four-passenger cartsare slightly higher.

There will also be freeJolly Trolley rides fromthe park to downtownPontiac on Friday andSaturday. The trolley willrun from 11 a,m. to 2 p.m.

Golf cartrentalsavailable