T-R FILE PHOTO — Lines of different antique tractors and farm equipment were on display during the 2022 edition of the Mid-Iowa Antique Power Association Show near the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office just off of Highway 30. The event is returning this weekend from Friday through Sunday.

“I remember being in the Kiddie Tractor Pull,” recalls Ethan Crow, a true veteran of the Mid-Iowa Antique Power Association Show.

The annual event is coming up this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — Aug. 2-4 — and is located at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office grounds at 2369 Jessup Ave. on Highway 30 west of Marshalltown.

The show started in 1985, and according to Crow, it demonstrates several things about farming in the “old days.”

“Steam engines were first used to power tractors and other farm equipment,” he said.

Water for the steam engines was generated by coal with black smoke from the fire being a common identity. Steam was used with threshing machines and corn shellers.

The show covers some 100 years of history of farming in the Midwest and often demonstrates the intense human labor side of things.

“People worked so very hard to plant and harvest crops,” Crow said.

He added that farming was often a “community” effort, with neighbors helping neighbors.

For people, farmers or not, attending the show, there’s plenty to see. Plowing demonstrations, a steam powered sawmill and corn shelling — corn was picked by hand, then stored in a wire crib and in the spring the corn-on-the-cob would be shelled. A potato plow will be used to turn potatoes up on the surface and attendees are welcome to gather as many potatoes as they like.

There’s a wide variety of food available for visitors to dine on, an afternoon tractor parade to watch both Saturday and Sunday, a raffle for a tractor (or $1,000), horse drawn plowing and disking, a building displaying the small machinery used in early farming, a vendor display with items for sale, a flea market, and a special treat- ice cream made on site with a “Hit or miss” gas engine.

Crow is a third generation farmer, and his favorite tractor is a Farmall Super C, which belonged to his great grandfather. His family farm is near Green Mountain, just north of Marshalltown.

He added that the show is “worth experiencing, whether or not you’re a farmer.”

He noted that the show will demonstrate how “hard people had to work, and how they depended on neighbors to get the work of the day done.” He said that there are “activities for the kids, and plenty for anyone to see and experience.”