Museum To Host Threshing Bee
By Robert Thomas
Photos from the archives of the late Marjorie Russell/Thomas
Editor’s Note - The photos in this article are from my grandmother’s own personal photo collection. Although they may have seemed at the time to be “silly photos” to some the pictures my grandmother took help to chronicle life just before and in the Depression Years - they fit directly into the theme of the story.
“It takes me back to my younger days when I was a kid,” Gord Ross president of the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum told MJ Independent about being part of the Museum’s annual Threshing Bee.
Ross was reminiscing when asked about his days on the farm and some of his reasons for being part of the annual threshing bee.
“We are just trying to show how a harvest use to be and how it has progressed over the years to what you see now when you drive down the highway and see three-quarters of a million dollars combines and 45 foot headers,” he said, adding “and how our pioneers use to harvest.”
The two day event runs Saturday September 10th and Sunday September 11th from 8 am until 4:30 pm at the Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum located is located about 10 minutes south of Moose Jaw on Highway #2 . (See the end of the article for a full calendar of events.)
Ross said it was quite the difference between today’s world on the large farms with the new modernized equipment compared to yesteryear.
Keelerville School (District # 1111 Sec 29 Tsp 21 Rge 28 W of the 2 Meridian) class photo June 1932 - from the archives of Marjorie Russell/Thomas. This was Marjorie’s first school. If you look closely you can see children both wearing shoes or in bare feet. Most of the children though are bare foot.
In the past all farm children had to and were expected to work some very hard and labour intensive jobs on the farm.
“Can you imagine going out with a three and a half foot header and going out on a quarter section with s three and an half foot table on the combine? That’s just a little more than most lawn mowers now.”
A header is the part of the combine that cuts and delivers the grain and straw to be threshed through the combine.
Harvest in the past was labour intensive, something the threshing bee hopes to replicate and demonstrate to attendees.
Ross said in the past you would use a machine called a binder to cut and create sheaves of grain and then “once you got the bundles cut you have got to go out and stook them (put them in piles). Then you have got to go and put them on a rack and then pitch them into the threshing machine. It was labour intensive.
Tossing sheaves into the threshing machine was hard and tiring manual labour - photo from the archives of Marjorie Russell/Thomas
The equipment in the volunteer operated museum’s collection goes back to the beginning of farming in what became known as Saskatchewan.
“We have equipment that goes back probably to the 1900’s. The early 1900’s. The reaper we use it didn’t even tie the bundles. All it did was cut the crop and dumped them in a semi-circle table and it dumped them off in approximate sized bundles and then somebody had to come behind and hand tie it.”
The stationary baler was the same take three to four people to feed the machine and tie the bales with wire (thus the source of the term baler or baling wire).
“They worked hard,” he said when asked about what it was like to farm in the past.
Taking a break from threshing near Keeler - photo from the archives of Marjorie Russell/Thomas
The threshing bee is trying to not only demonstrate how farming was done in the past but also at the same time show the effort people who pioneered or just a generation or two later had to work on area farms.
It is a common theme at the privately run museum. It is a time capsule into the area past and what life was like on farms and the smaller rural communities.
“Every small village had a store, and an elevator, a blacksmith’s shop, a church and the school it was always grade one to grade eight in a one room school. And lots of times the teacher boarded at one of the close families that had kids there…it is what we are trying to recreate and save (at the museum).”
For those coming to the threshing bee all of the 41 buildings now at the museum site will be open to come out and explore. It is all part of the $10 adult admission.
In addition to the existing buildings the Volman Building will be officially opened at 12:45pm on September 11th.
Tossing sheaves - photo from the archives of Marjorie Russell/Thomas
Although the demonstration is about the past and many people whose families came from farms may have forgotten their rural roots Ross said the threshing bee is something that has a great attraction.
“If you have never been there I think you will find it interesting.”
Asked if he had seen or heard about the harvest with stooks and threshing as a child Ross chuckled “I actually lived through it all. I rode the binder as a kid.”
“I hated the job and here I am doing it again (at the threshing bee).”
Ross said despite the hard work he has fond memories of those days as a child.
One of his memories was his grandfather and father tossing the sheaves up into the loft of the hoop shaped barn for the animals during the winter. When his dad got too old to do it Ross remembered when he got home from school he had to go up in the hay loft and take the sheaves and stack them.
Asked it there was a choice back then to work or not to work on the farm he said “oh no, you worked.”
Tea Time during harvest served in a china mugs - photo from the archives of Marjorie Russell/Thomas
He invites everyone to come out for the event even if you yourself or your generation was not on the farm learning what was happening and how it ties into the development of Saskatchewan is important to know.
September 10th
Gates Open 8 am - 10 am for pancake breakfast cost $8
Buildings open and registration for tractor and truck parade at 10 am
Tractor parade starts at 11 am
Awards ceremony for long term members at 12:45 am
Truck and car parade 1 pm
Field demonstrations between 2 - 2:20 pm start
Threshing Bee 3 pm
Antique Tractor pull starts at 4 pm
September 11th
Gates Open 8 am - 10 am for pancake breakfast cost $8
Buildings open at 10 am
Tractor parade at 10 am
Church Service 11 am
Grand opening of the new Volman Building 12:45 am
Truck and car parade 1:15 pm
Field demonstrations between 2 - 2:20 pm start
Threshing Bee 3 pm
Antique Tractor pull starts at 4 pm
For those who do not have transportation you can catch the Tourism Moose Jaw trolley which is running on an hourly schedule starting at 10:30 am with the final return at 4:30 pm. The trolley is accepting donations for the ride.
For those driving the privately run and financed museum is located about 10 minutes south of Moose Jaw on Highway #2
Horses are used along with tractors - photo from the archives of Marjorie Russell/Thomas
The volunteer run museum is self financed and does not receive government funding so the annual threshing bee is its main fundraiser to maintain and keep the unique local museum open.
For more information check out the Museum’s Facebook Page.