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September 26th saw a
contingent of Museum volunteers from Elkhorn begin the
first stages of planning for next year’s Canada Day
celebrations. A group of Manitoba Automobile Museum Board
Members and members of the Restoration Club worked
together to cut, bind, and load two rack loads of sheaves
of wheat for the July 1st Threshing day at the Elkhorn
Museum. The day began early getting all of the canvasses
spread out and onto the binder, with a fairly slow trip to
the field to begin the cutting and binding. Our
 equipment
for this expedition was a 1950 Ford tractor, a John Deere
binder from the late 40s to early 50s, a couple of 1950
era hay racks, two fairly new half tons, and a little bit
of eager excitement! After much discussion about how
everything was “done” last year, the crew began the work,
and was quickly “hard at it!”
Volunteers Wes Ruddick, Lynn
Tutthill, Bill Glover, and Lloyd Baskerville begin to
start the swathing.
The machinery ran perfect, with everyone getting a turn at
operating all the equipment, including the pitchforks (the
least favourite equipment of all)! Like all days during
the harvest season the binding crew would not have made
the day without the help of the “Dinner Crew,” after a
morning of binding, two members of the Restoration Club
 brought
dinner to the field for the crew. Once the crew stopped
for dinner (after the work was done of course) there were
many “passers by” that dropped in for a visit, and to
share their knowledge about, “how binding was done” on
their “home farms.” Were the visitors there to visit the
old farm machinery, the binding crew, or the sandwiches
and fresh baked cake, hmmmmmm?
Noreen Baskerville and Margaret
Ruddick arrive with dinner for the swathing crew.
Hopefully you will be able to come to Elkhorn on July 1st
for the annual Threshing day, and help throw these sheaves
through the threshing machine. Many thanks to Neil Soder
and Billy Martin who selflessly donated the wheat to be
used for this project, and helped to support our local
museum.
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