Photo by Holly Allen – The third- and second-most senior active MAETA members, Merlyn Mahoney, Ozawkie, and Jim Noll, Nortonville, lean up against a 60-bushel box wagon on the threshing grounds outside the sawmill last week to discuss which pies to bake and sell in advance of the 50th annual summer show this coming weekend.
by Holly Allen
“It’s called Cottonwood Station for a reason,” says Merlyn Mahoney as he languishes on the porch of the general store of a hot morning late last week. “Near every single building in this little village was built on site from Cottonwood trees sawed at the sawmill here. Even this general store, which took 13 years to finish. But it all started with that sawmill. If we wanted to build anything, we had to have the sawmill.”
Merlyn, of Ozawkie, and fellow Meriden Antique Engine and Threshers Association member Jim Noll, Nortonville, had met to discuss this coming weekend’s annual summer show at the threshing grounds outside Meriden — the association’s milestone 50th show of its kind. Mostly, though, they reminisced. And as two of MAETA’s senior-most active members, outranked in tenure only by Gary Bowen of Meriden, they have more than four decades of summer show stories to tell.
“These things, they used to be a lot more laid back,” says Jim. “No vendors, little promotion. But they were family affairs then, and they are family affairs now.”
A lot of their old stories involve the members’ kids, who were set loose on show weekends with only a hard boundary — no one on the highway and no one in the trees — and a directive to not be destructive. Otherwise, they had the run of the grounds while their folks ran the show. Left to their own devices, the kids came up with their own entertainment.
One of Merlyn’s favorite memories involves Jim’s kids and a Bouncing Betty — a three-wheeled, steam-powered vehicle which runs on coal.
“I guess the kids were bored, because they took a bucket of rocks and painted them black, mixed them in with the coals in the firebox. That thing was sure having a time trying to make it up the hill during the parade. By the time it got back, chugging along, they were measuring the weight of coal versus rock in hand to figure out which was which, and the paint on the rocks was the only thing keeping it moving,” said Jim as Merlyn chuckled beside him.
The men used to mark time at the shows years ago by another fellow MAETA member, who will remain unnamed here, and the color of his drink jug. A red jug meant business — it was full of water and still daytime, showtime. A green jug meant it was time to head to the barn and bandstands — it was filled with bourbon and it was getting on nightime, time for a good time.
The men, much tamer than they were in their youth, conclude the morning by discussing the upcoming show. For the 50th, MAETA has done it up a little extra for their loyal participants, and they’re encouraging folks who have never been to a summer show to come by this time around and check it out.
“If you’re one of those folks who have always wanted to stop by and haven’t, this is the year to do it,” says Merlyn. “We’ve got some stuff planned for the big milestone, and it should be a good time.”
Each building has something special in store for visitors, with scavenger hunts and registrations for prizes, old-timey photos, commemorative cups and cozies, shirts, coasters, and even cutting boards, made of pecan sawed right on-site at the mill.
Jolene Bickel will be serving up what the old-timers call “damn-fine food” at the chuckwagon — an assortment of barbecue goodness and fresh pies baked by the MAETA members themselves. A lively discussion was being had as to who was baking which pies last week. (With Jim warning to look out for Merlyn’s gooseberry, for whatever that’s worth.) Hamburgers, hot dogs, and waters will also be available in the sorghum shack. The vendor list is maxed out, with more than 20 signed up to hock their wares, new and old, during the show.
The show runs Friday, July 17, through Sunday, July 19, with highlights including demonstrations at the living museum buildings including the Benedict Meyer log cabin built in 1854, Thick and Thin Sawmill, blacksmith shop, flour mill, grocery store, and print shop. Classic and antique tractors, automobiles, trucks, and engines will be on display all three days. The featured tractor this year is the Rumley/Oil Pull. The featured engine is the Oil Field engine.
Friday kicks off with grain threshing at 10 a.m., parade at 1 p.m., threshing at 2 p.m., a garden tractor pull at 7 p.m., and Paul Root and the Sierra Band live from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Saturday is always the most populous day, sometimes drawing as many as 2,000 people in single-day attendance. The day begins with a garden tractor pull at 9 a.m., threshing at 10 a.m., a parade at 1 p.m., threshing at 2 p.m., the antique tractor pull at 3 p.m., and a special performance by the Steve Kile Band from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Sunday starts with services in the Bloomfield Church at 9 a.m., threshing at 10 a.m., a slow tractor race at 10:30 a.m., the garden tractor pull at 11 a.m., parade at 1 p.m., and a final threshing at 2 p.m.
Admission is $10 for all three days. Exhibitors and veterans are free, as are kids under 12 with a paid admission.
More information can be found on MAETA’s website at meridenthreshers.org.
The MAETA members say the threshing grounds at 8275 K-4 Hwy., Meriden, have been utilized over the years for all manner of things. It has been used in a commercial for an England bourbon company, a Peruvian Connection clothing catalog, a college cheerleader calendar shoot, and for senior photos.
But this weekend, it will be used for the purpose intended. The point of the show is now and always has been, for the past 50 years, to give folks, and especially kids, an idea of what early farming practices were like and instill in them an appreciation for antique engines, tractors, occupations, and culture of rural life.
“We want to pass on the techniques used in the past so we don’t forget them,” said Merlyn. “Especially as we get further and further away from them.”
“And have some fun while we do it,” added Jim.