In the Beginning...
The Mini Sappa Antique Thresher
& Engine Show has a long and impressive history. It began about three decades ago in October of 1981, when a small group of enthusiasts got together to display and demonstrate a variety of tractors, farm equipment, small engines, and automobiles. Where did they choose to congregate for this event? Why, it was the Decatur County Fairgrounds—the same location the club uses today!
The Mini Sappa Antique Thresher
& Engine Show has a long and impressive history. It began about three decades ago in October of 1981, when a small group of enthusiasts got together to display and demonstrate a variety of tractors, farm equipment, small engines, and automobiles. Where did they choose to congregate for this event? Why, it was the Decatur County Fairgrounds—the same location the club uses today!The main organizers for this first show were Allen "Bus" and Carolyn Wurm. According to Carolyn in a 1987 Clarion article, the show began because they had been attending the Bird City show for quite some time and thought it would be a good activity to get started locally before the 1985 Oberlin Centennial. In the article, Carolyn also added that "the threshers have so much area history surrounding them we decided that it would be an appropriate event."
An estimated 10 automobiles, 18 tractors, and 17 small engines were present at that first show. Among them was Bus and Carolyn's 1916 30-60 HP Aultman Taylor, the tractor on which the official club logo is based. This logo was created circa 1991 and can be seen in the header of this website. Some other identified exhibits include Dwayne Jones' 1928 Ford Model A, Bus Wurm's 1918 International Harvester Titan tractor, Lowell Ayers' Case threshing machine, Tracy Lincoln's 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, Charlie Lincoln's 1963 Chevrolet Nova SS convertible, and Jerry Bantam's 1915 Ford Model T. Also on display was an antique, homemade tractor created by Harry Schrammel. Harry gave this tractor to Bus shortly before the show, and the two of them worked diligently so that it could be in running condition for the event. Speaking of Mr. Schrammel, the little train that everyone in the Oberlin area knows so well was at that first show,
too! Harry and Betty Schrammel donated the train for the Decatur County Fairgrounds in 1980, and people were even more excited about it then than they are now, over 30 years later. Some of the farm demonstrations during the show included running a pumpjack, operating a large fan, and threshing with the Case separator.To see additional photos of the first show, please click here!
Through the Years...
Within a few years of that first show, the Mini Sappa club was officially formed, and the annual event just kept getting bigger and better. More exhibitors and spectators poured in from the surrounding cities and states. Each year, additional farm equipment was demonstrated. New features such as the kids' tractor pull, exhibitors' parade and vendor market were added. What started as a small get-together with fewer than 50 exhibits turned into a major attraction, at times bringing in well over 2,000 people and hosting hundreds of entries.
Many hands helped make the Mini Sappa Antique Thresher & Engine Show a success, and they continue to do so today. Good people from the club, the Oberlin community, and the surrounding area come together year after year to put on a superb show so that the valued history represented in each and every old hunk of iron on display won't be forgotten—so that the area's agricultural past can be revealed to generations of the future.
