Moon Lake Threshermen's Association & Show History

The Sollman family is the reason for the Moon Lake Threshing Bee. It has been hosted on their farm for over 20 years, but a lot has changed since its infancy. George and Harriet Sollman's son Tim explains how the Moon Lake Threshing Bee came to be...

Having been to many steam and gas engine shows just to see the threshing, it seemed they would thresh just a few bundles and then stop. I told my dad, George, that I would like to get at threshing machine and thresh a few acres. Dad said that if I was going to thresh a few acres, I might as well thresh the whole planting. We usually plant 10 to 12 acres of oats every year.

In 1985 I purchased a 22-inch McCormick Deering thresher. Then I had to find a grain binder. I was talking to my neighbor Harold Reichert, and he said he had one to sell, and would even come and run it for us. Harold ran the thresher every year as he used to do custom threshing, and then, combining in later years.

We set the date for the first Threshing Bee in August 11, 1985. We used a 1937 John Deere A to power the thresher. Relatives, friends and neighbors came to help us out. After that I met John Norberg and he said if I was going to host a Threshing Bee, a steam engine was needed. With John’s help and the assistance of John Laconic, I learned how to run the steam engine. John Laconic was always on hand to help run the engine.

Over the years many other demonstrations have been added to the show. Silo filling, bailing, blacksmithing, shingle making, rope making, feed grinding and many other displays of yesteryear have made the show what it is today. Due to the large number of people that attend the Threshing Bee each year, our farm insurance could no longer cover the liability for the Threshing Bee. So in the spring of 1998 we formed a club called The Moon Lake Thresherman's Association, Inc. The first year we had about 100 members join. All of the people you see working at the show today are all volunteers.