Threshing shows are not hard to find these days, but Atwater Threshing Days displays a machine few have ever seen — a horse-powered threshing machine.
Cliff Ulferts found the pieces of the 1880s-era treadmill and the 1890s era threshing machine in Michigan. The threshing machine was rebuilt and welded back together, but the treadmill had few intact parts.
“Most of the metal was there, but everything else was guessed at by looking at pictures in books,” Ulferts said.
It was a challenge to find a small horse that would walk the treadmill, but after some misadventures, they had the threshing machine working. They have since located a larger treadmill that will accommodate a draft horse.
The horse-powered threshing machine can be seen in operation at Atwater Threshing Days, the weekend after Labor Day. The Threshing Show has grown since it got its own showgrounds at the former Atwater race track, a mile east of town. (The show started in 1976 on the farm of Dale Anderson and ran there for 10 years until insurance became a problem.)
The grounds include a village with businesses such as a blacksmith shop and general store, a gazebo for entertainment, and the Activities Building which has quilting, spinning, bread baking, butter churning and the like. Each year a different make of tractor is featured at the show. This year’s featured make is European-built tractors.
Atwater Threshing Days is Sept. 11-12, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5, 12 and under free. The showgrounds are at 1100 Kandi-Meeker Road, one mile east of Atwater. More information is at www.atwaterthreshingdays.net.
