Hundreds of tractors in all makes and models lined the showgrounds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
SIX HOURS OF ENDLESS WALKING, many conversations, one shared handheld peach pastry, a small taco, several bites of a burger and fries, one molasses cookie, a couple swallows of soda, one shared dish of Amish-made ice cream and hundreds of photos later, I left the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Fall Show on August 30 exhausted. In a good way.
Plowing with horses. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
There were lots of steam engines at this year’s show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Tractors provide the power to shell corn. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
This event held at the showgrounds in rural Dundas over Labor Day weekend saw ideal weather and record crowds during the 50th anniversary celebration focused on “preserving a bit of yesterday for tomorrow.” That’s exactly what this organization accomplishes. From horse power to steam power to gas power, the early days and evolution of farming are on display in living history demonstrations. Rows and rows of vintage tractors and other agricultural equipment and on-site old buildings also showcase history.
This could be one of my brothers back in the day driving tractor. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I love everything about this show as it takes me back to my rural roots, reconnects me with the land and reminds me of the importance farming had, and still has, in Minnesota.
Two generations work at shelling corn, one by machine, the other by hand. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Horse-drawn wagon rides by Tom Duban, rural Faribault, transport attendees around the showgrounds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Tossing oats into the thresher is labor intensive. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I love, too, the passion I see here in tractor collectors and in those operating massive steam engines, guiding horses, shoveling and shelling corn, pitching and threshing oats, sawing wood, making ropes, creating commemorative wooden shingles, stitching leather, pounding hot metal, and much much more.
The barrel train passes the threshing area as it winds through the showgrounds. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
There are several vintage merry-go-rounds at the site and kids love them. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
One of several contestants I watched at the kids’ pedal tractor pull. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I also love people-watching, seeing young and old alike immerse themselves in the past. This truly is a family event for all ages with hands-on activities for the kids and lots of reminiscing for those of us who grew up on farms. I watched kids spin on old-fashioned merry-go-rounds, grind corn, toss basketballs into hoops inside a grain wagon, pedal with all their might in a competitive kids’ pedal tractor pull, ride in an old-fashioned barrel train and on a mini train, steer tractors…
The event included music and dancing in the music hall, where a beer garden is also located. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
A flea market, music, food…they, too, are part of this well-organized show. It takes a lot of volunteers, a lot of work and dedication, a lot of time and commitment to pull this off.
Transported from the Rice County Historical Society in Faribault, this 1916 Case steam engine sparked the interest leading to the first show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
This organization has grown this event, which began with a threshing demonstration in Faribault in 1974, sparking formation of the Rice County Steam Association and the first show near Warsaw in 1975. The 1916 50 hp Case steam engine that started it all 50 years ago was pulled out of storage at the Rice County Historical Society Museum for display at the 2025 show.
This young boy is focused and determined as he drives a John Deere during the tractor parade. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Three on board a Case for the tractor parade. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I love the look of joy, admiration and contentment on this young boy’s face as he rides a John Deere in the parade. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Everywhere I walked, everywhere I looked, I saw smiles. I saw, too, an inter-generational connection over a shared love of tractors, farming of yesteryear, the rural way of life.
The lengthy parade of hundreds of tractors began at noon daily. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
In the noise of roaring farm machinery, in the belch of steam from massive steam engines, in the dust flying from shelling corn and threshing oats, in the clop of horses’ hooves, even in the scent of horse manure, I observed and experienced rural life as it once existed. Labor intensive. Dangerous. Family-centered. But at it’s core still the same. Valued. Honored. Truly a way of life rooted in the land and cherished by those who live upon and tend it.
Allis Chalmers guy. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
Of the hundreds of photos I’ve taken at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines spring and fall shows, this remains a favorite of a farmer watching threshing. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo 2012)
FOR ANYONE ROOTED in the land, this weekend’s annual Tractor Show at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines showgrounds along Minnesota State Highway 3 south of Dundas is a must-attend. This event, celebrating its 50th year, is like a step back in time, when farming was much more labor intensive and equipment vastly different from the computerized equipment of today.
A mammoth threshing machine sits outside the fenced showgrounds on Wednesday. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
I’ve attended and photographed this show many times. And even though I’m not nearly as interested as my automotive machinist husband in old tractors, steam engines, threshing machines, small engines and miscellaneous vintage farm equipment, I still find plenty to appreciate. I am, after all, a born and raised farm girl who is incredibly proud of her rural heritage.
I’m also proud of Randy and all the work he’s done on vintage tractors. Without fail, someone will walk up to us at the show and tell him how great their tractor runs—the one he worked on. He’s overhauled many a tractor engine.
There’s a lot of work involved in putting on a tractor show that includes a daily noon tractor parade, a tractor pull, a kids’ pedal pull, flea market, living history demonstrations, petting zoo, mini train rides, food stands, live music, a cornhole tournament, raffle, Sunday morning church service, small engines and tractor displays, and much more.
Signage at the showgrounds entry notes this as the 50th anniversary Tractor Show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
And to think that volunteers have organized this Tractor Show for 50 years is truly remarkable. Enthusiasm for showcasing rural history and preserving the past runs deep. Old buildings have even been moved on site like a log cabin, 1912 farmhouse, an old school, town hall, corn crib…
The flea market always draws me to look and shop. I challenge myself to find the strangest of merchandise. Not hard to do. Oddities abound.
This name was printed on one of the two threshing machines I photographed, presumably the original owners. Other names were penciled onto the metal. Another sign identified this as a Huber threshing machine. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
And then there are the people. I always run into someone I know. And that’s part of the experience, too. Standing and visiting. Catching up. Discussing whatever.
This all happens on the land, on acreage Rice County Steam & Gas Engines, Inc. opens twice annually to the public. The group holds a spring swap meet on Memorial Day weekend.
Two threshing machines sat outside the showgrounds fence at the entrance gate Wednesday afternoon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo August 2025)
But for Labor Day weekend, the event focuses on tractors. Gates open at 7 a.m. daily, August 29-31. Admission for all three days is $10 for adults; those 12 and under enter free. I’d encourage you to attend if you live within driving distance. And that means anyone, whether you were raised rural or grew up in a city.
A row of John Deere tractors at the 2022 Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show, rural Dundas. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2022)
AS A WRITER, a storyteller, I read obituaries. Doesn’t matter if the deceased is known to me or not. I find obits interesting for the stories therein.
Stories weren’t always part of obituary writing. Obit style has evolved since I graduated in 1978 with a journalism degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato. And that is a good thing. Today’s death notices are not just summaries of facts, but rather personalized in a way that helps the reader understand the person as a person. That holds value to those who are grieving and to those of us who hold no connection to the individual.
I need to backtrack for a moment and share that writing an obituary was my first writing assignment in Reporting 101. Although I’ve forgotten details about that long ago college course, I remember the professor stressing the importance of spelling names correctly. That carried through to all types of newspaper reporting. First reporting job out of college, I learned a source was Dayle, not Dale.
Emmett Haala (Photo source: Sturm Funeral Home)
That MSU instructor also imprinted upon me the importance of obituaries. As I age, I find myself drawn more and more to reading obits. Too often now, I know the deceased. Recently, I found a gem in the obituary of Emmett Haala, 87, of Springfield (that would be Springfield, Minnesota), who died on February 28. His funeral is today.
Hanging out by a John Deere tractor at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2022)
It wasn’t the basic facts about Emmett that captivated me, but rather his interest in John Deere tractors. He, according to his obit, “lived and breathed John Deere.” Now to anyone with a rural connection, the idea of fierce tractor brand loyalty is familiar. This retired mechanic began his career at age 14 at Runck Hardware and Implement in Springfield, eventually opening Emmett’s Shop in 1970. He was a trusted mechanic who serviced all machinery brands, but favored John Deere.
“Nothing runs like a Deere” is the John Deere slogan. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2017)
That tidbit got me reminiscing and also contemplating the importance of open houses in rural Minnesota. Events that continue today. Emmett, his death notice read, shared many memories of John Deere Days at Runck Hardware and Implement. He “…enjoyed making hot dogs and coffee for the throngs of people attending and showing the newest John Deere movie.”
To this day, I remain a fan of John Deere. Here Randy and I pose aside a vintage John Deere at Bridgewater Farm, rural Northfield in October 2023. (Photo credit: Amber Schmidt)
That was it. I was hooked. I attended John Deere Day at a farm implement dealership while growing up in southwestern Minnesota. While the event was a way for machinery dealers to get farmers inside their shops, the open houses were also a social gathering for rural folks. My siblings and I piled into the Chevy aside Dad and Mom for the 20-mile drive to Redwood Falls and John Deere Day.
Free food—usually BBQs, baked beans, chips and vanilla ice cream packaged in little plastic cups and eaten with a wooden spoon—comprised dinner (not lunch to us farm types). Maybe there were hot dogs, too, like at Emmett’s place of employment. Memories fade over the decades.
A worn vintage John Deere emblem. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2017)
But I do recall the John Deere movies shown post meal at the theater in Redwood Falls. Sure, they were nothing but advertisements for “the long green line” of farm machinery. But to a kid who seldom set foot in a theater, the promotional films held all the appeal of a box office hit. Plus, there were door prizes like bags of seed corn and silver dollars. I never won anything. A cousin did.
At the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo September 2017)
And so all those John Deere memories and more—including the distinct pop of my dad’s 1950s John Deere tractor—rushed back. Putt, putt, putt. Emmett belonged to the Prairieland Two Cylinder Club. Nostalgia is powerful. So is the art of crafting an obituary. Many of today’s obituaries feature detailed personal stories, not simply superlatives. Stories that reveal something about the individual who lived and breathed and loved. Stories well beyond life-line basics. Stories of life. Stories that resonate, that connect us to each other. Stories like those of Emmett, who “lived and breathed John Deere.”
(Book cover image sourced online)
FYI: I recommend reading this guidebook to obituary writing by retired The Wall Street Journal obit writer James R. Hagerty: Yours Truly: An Obituary Writer’s Guide to Telling Your Story. Hagerty is the son of Marilyn Hagerty, columnist for The Grand Forks Herald. In a March 2012 “Eatbeat” column, Marilyn reviewed her local Olive Garden and gained instant internet fame.
John Deere tractors parked near the log cabin at the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
GROWING UP ON A CROP and dairy farm in southwestern Minnesota, tractors are part of my history. I am familiar with the putt-putt-putt of an aged John Deere, the maneuverable size of a B Farmall, the necessity of a dependable tractor.
Rumely Oil Pull tractors were sold between 1910-1930. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
The tractor is the workhorse of the farm. That remains as true today as it did 50 years ago when I still lived in rural Redwood County.
The Massey-Harris is the featured tractor at this year’s show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
So when I attended the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show in rural Dundas on Friday, I began reminiscing. I expect many others did the same while meandering among the rows of vintage tractors or watching the daily high noon parade. This event is heavy on the tractors, threshing machines and farm equipment in general. And that holds appeal for those of us rooted in farms.
Guiding a vintage Allis Chalmers along the parade route on Friday. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
I am old enough to remember tractors without cabs, air conditioning, GPS or other technology. Instead, my dad’s tractors were shaded from the hot summer sun by an umbrella, protected from the winter cold by canvas and guided solely by the skill of hands on the steering wheel.
John Deere tractors like the one I rode in winter to catch the bus to school. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
My most memorable tractor story is that of Dad driving my brother Doug and me the mile into Vesta on the open cab John Deere in the dead of winter so we could get to school. We were both in junior high then, attending school in the county seat some 20 miles to the east. It was a particularly snowy and brutal winter, so awful that buses couldn’t venture onto rural roads to pick up students. If we could get into town, we could catch the bus at the local cafe. From there, the bus took a state highway to the school in Redwood Falls.
Not a B Farmall, but an IH tractor none-the-less. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Dad wasn’t partial to any tractor brand. He owned John Deere, International Harvester and Ford tractors. The B Farmall remains my favorite as I drove that small scale IH tractor in the farmyard, pulling the flatbed trailer up to the feed bunk to unload hay for the cows.
I found this toy John Deere tractor for sale from vendor Shippy’s Toys. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
John Deere likewise will always hold a special spot in my heart. I remember once a year attending John Deere Days at the farm implement dealership in Redwood Falls. That included a free meal followed by a John Deere promotional movie at the local theater. To eat ice cream from a plastic cup with a little wooden “spoon” and to see a movie on a screen were treats, not to mention the door prizes. Like silver dollars. And bags of seed corn.
Aged threshing machines, well before my time, on exhibit. There are threshing demonstrations during the show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Aging has a way of making us view the past through a nostalgic lens. Yet the reality of life on the farm in the 1960s and 1970s is one of hard work and challenges. Uncontrollable factors—weather, prices and more—have always made farming a gamble. Yet, for those of us who grew up on the land, there’s an undeniable sense of hardiness within us, even decades removed from the farm.
Allis Chalmers tractors are among those displayed in the field of tractors. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
When I attend an event like the Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show, I reconnect to my past. Remembering. Appreciating. Thankful for the land and hard work that shaped me personally and professionally. I expect that’s true for many who walk the show grounds at this rural-rooted annual event in southern Minnesota.
A 1921 Titan International. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
FYI: The Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Show continues today (Sunday, September 4) with gates opening at 7 am and closing at 5:30 pm on the grounds south of Dundas along Minnesota State Highway 3. For more information, visit the club website and/or read my first post on this year’s event. This show is about much more than tractors and other farm equipment.
Photo cut-outs just inside the entrance. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
BARELY INSIDE THE GATES of the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show mid Friday morning, I boarded a train. It was an unexpected ride, this double loop around the tracks while straddling a slightly swaying model train car. I thought these free train rides were only for kids. Not so, the crew assured me.
The model train carries all ages. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
On a train car, a mini Massey-Harris the featured tractor. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Riding the rails. Kids must be accompanied by an adult. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
When I disembarked, a preschooler sandwiched between two adults for his turn on the rails.
Photographed on a tractor, show stickers. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
What a fun way to begin my four hours at the show, which continues through Sunday at the event grounds south of Dundas, which is south of Northfield. This 47th annual gathering is about “Preserving a Bit of Yesterday for Tomorrow.” And that’s exactly what you will find here. Old. Aged. Vintage. Snapshots into the past. Farming as it was done back in the day. Agriculture/farming/rural life center the show.
Massey-Harris tractors all in a row. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Conversation while leaning on a John Deere. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
A tractor made by Cockshutt and marketed by Gambles. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Vintage tractors are the focus with a field of tractors on display. This year’s featured brand is Massey-Harris. But brands ranging from the well-known John Deere, Allis Chalmers, International Harvester…to the rare Gambles line the grassy grounds.
The threshing crew. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Other farm machinery is also on-site, including a threshing machine, typically threshing oats, but under repair during my visit.
The blacksmith at work. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
There’s simply so much to see here, so much equipment to take in, so many demonstrations to watch. I observed blacksmithing and sorghum pressing. There’s also syrup making, corn shelling, flour milling, lumber sawing… Not all were up and running yet Friday morning.
The 1912 farmhouse. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Sorghum towers in a field. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Delicious cookies made with sorghum. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
While demonstrations are a major draw, so are the aged farm buildings moved onto the grounds. Inside the 1912 Drentlaw farmhouse, my friend Ruth served cookies made with sorghum.
Pressing sorghum. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Across the way, two men fed sorghum stalks into a press, liquid streaming into a bucket.
A massive stove defines the farmhouse kitchen. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
As I walked upon the wood floors of the farmhouse, I felt immersed in the past. A wood-burning stove anchors the small kitchen where a water dipper rests in an enamelware bowl in the sink. Embroidered dish towels drape a drying rack.
The dining room table set for guests. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
In the dining room, with fine china set upon a lace-covered table, the morning breeze billowed lace curtains.
Rounding the corn crib… (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Outside the main house sits a summer kitchen with a corn crib and granary nearby. Replicating a farm site of yesteryear seems a goal. As a farm girl, I appreciate these efforts to preserve a bit of yesterday. Our Minnesota agrarian history needs to be shared at events like this which connect all ages to a way of life that is quickly vanishing.
My oddest find at this year’s flea market. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Even the flea market connects attendees to the past where old stuff mixes with crafts and an assortment of other merchandise. Every time here, I challenge myself to find oddities, weird whatever that makes me do a double take. This year’s vendors did not disappoint me.
A burger basket from the Northfield Knights of Columbus. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Nor did the food. Vendors offer an assortment of tasty food and beverages ranging from burgers and fries to Mexican food, milkshakes, lemonade, kettle corn, mini donuts and more. It’s all about food and conversation and watching the daily tractor parade at noon while seated at a picnic table in the Food Pavilion.
One of three musicians in the band Steam Machine performs Friday afternoon. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
Over in the poleshed style music building, I listened to the bluegrass band Steam Machine. A couple danced across the cement floor, nearby hay racks piled with oats bundles. I photographed, then attempted to cool down after too much time in the heat and humidity.
A gigantic ear of corn made of milk jugs. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
A poster promotes the 2023 Credit River show. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
I love how so many people care about our agricultural history. That includes the guys from the Credit River Antique Tractor Club who were selling raffle tickets for a 1952 Ford 8N tractor. Their annual show is set for July 14-16, 2023, in rural New Prague.
Teaching the younger generation about tractors. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted photo September 2022)
The Rice County folks will be back, too, in 2023, “Preserving a Bit of Yesterday for Tomorrow.” There will be a tractor parade, a Kids Pedal Pull, demonstrations, tractors galore and, oh, so much more at the Labor Day weekend show. Even train rides…
THERE IS NO PLACE, none, that I’d rather be this time of year than in rural southwestern Minnesota. It is the place of my heart, of my memories, of everything that shaped me into the person, the writer and photographer that I am today.
This place of wide skies and dark rich soil in some of Minnesota’s best farm land claims me still, decades after I left. I left not because I disliked this place, but for education and opportunity. Like so many of my generation.
In a reminder of decades past, a vintage tractor works the land on the edge of Delhi.
When I return to visit family here, I feel an ache of absence, that longing for a return to the familiar.
I realize those who’ve never lived on the prairie often fail to recognize its value, its beauty, its power in inspiring creativity. To many, even my own children, southwestern Minnesota seems the middle of nowhere. But to me, this land has always inspired. And it’s somewhere. Home.
Between Echo and Delhi.
A long familiar landmark tree along Minnesota State Highway 19 near the Belview corner.
When you’ve lived in a place so stark, in a place that exposes you to the elements, where life evolves around the land, you learn to appreciate the details. Like the endless wind. The spaciousness of land and sky. The scent of tilled soil. Rows of corn erupting green from the earth. A lone tree along a highway.
Acre after acre after acre across this land, I take in the rural scenes of farmers working fields, rushing to get crops in during a particularly late planting season.
Near Morgan, Minnesota.
I notice vehicles kicking dust along gravel roads,
Parked near the grain elevator in Morgan.
small town grain elevators,
a school bus splashing color into the landscape. I see it all in this place, this middle of somewhere.
A rural-themed license plate on a vehicle driving past Echo on a recent weekday morning. I confirmed with writer and photographer Ruth Klossner that this was her vehicle. She was on her way to interview a source for a magazine article. Ruth collects cow items of all sorts and opens the doors of her Bernadotte home for visitors to view the massive collection.
This is my joy, to each spring return to my Minnesota prairie roots, to reconnect to the land, to embrace the birth source of my creativity.
THERE ARE REASONS we love the things we do. Always reasons. And at the Cruise-In Car Show held last weekend at St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township, there was a reason my husband voted for a 1964 Chevy SS as his favorite car. He once owned a similar Chevy. Not an SS. But a rusted out 1964 Chevy Impala. He wishes he still had that vintage vehicle, albeit in pristine condition.
The tail light on the 1958 Chevy I liked.
I favored a cherry red 1958 Chevy that reminded me of the car my maternal grandpa drove. I remember mostly the salmon (not red) hue, the distinctive click of the blinker and the bumpy plastic protecting the seats. Grandpa’s car may not even have been a Chevy. But the lines of this car looked familiar.
Look at the graceful lines in these vintage cars.
My appreciation of vehicles is more about lines, curves and colors—the visual artistic appeal—rather than performance. Perhaps that’s why current day cars seem less attractive than those of 50 years ago.
Several tractors were registered at the show.
As I approached the four tractors parked at the cruise-in, I hoped to see a B Farmall or John Deere like the ones from my childhood farm. But there were none. It’s difficult for me to think of 1970s tractors as collectibles. There’s a reason for that and it’s called aging. My aging.
At the request of St. John’s car cruise-in organizers, I climbed a 10-foot step ladder to photograph the event.
These days I find myself growing more nostalgic. I am drawn to that which defined my past. I find that a tad unsettling, this yearning for seemingly simpler days when life was less complicated, less stressful, less cluttered. The “good old days,” they call them. Am I that old already to think that way?
Chevrolets are popular collector cars.
Perhaps this is really what car shows are all about. Not about shiny vehicles or souped up whatever, but rather about memories and appreciating the past.
BONUS PHOTOS:
A tractor owner left his key in his tractor, complete with key chain from the Little Brown Church in the Vale.
I have an affinity for Mustangs that traces to my teen years.
I was intrigued by these gauges on the exterior of a car, just outside the driver’s side of the windshield.
Because green is my favorite color, I am naturally drawn to this car owned by a Minnesotan who is a big Green Bay Packers fan.
Likewise, this blue on a blue Volkswagon also drew my eye and my interest.
This congregation knows how to draw folks in for events ranging from the annual The Last Supper Drama on Palm Sunday to Lenten soup luncheons to an ice cream social to a September Germanfest to the Big Woods Run and more. Many times I’ve gone to St. John’s activities, where I always feel welcomed by a friendly group of people like 90-year-old historian Elsie, Lynn (who’s usually in the kitchen) and the Rev. Lora Sturm.
My husband’s hands clasped in prayer.
On this Saturday morning, the reverend leads attendees in prayer. As I stand between a row of vintage cars in the church parking lot, I consider how wonderful to hear this prayer of blessing upon the vehicles and upon those in attendance.
This group of men visited for a long time around various vehicles.
While visiting with others, I note that most either belong to this congregation or grew up in this church. There’s a special closeness in country churches that comes from living in the same geographical area and gathering here to socialize, to celebrate, to mourn, to grow in the faith (although some admittedly have drifted away).
The oldest vehicle at the event.
Roots run deep through generations of families. German immigrants founded this congregation in 1856 as Minnesota’s first German Evangelical Church. They worshiped, nonagenarian Elsie tells me, in a log cabin before that burned and the current church was built in 1870 by German farmers from locally-quarried limestone.
I set my camera on the grass and aimed up to photograph this view of St. John’s. Yes, there’s a cross-topped steeple, just not in this image.
The “Old Stone Church,” as it is known, stands strong on the corner of a paved county and gravel road next to the church cemetery. A 4-year-old boy points to a gravestone and tells me God is buried there. I lead him to the stone, read the name thereon and explain to him that God is not buried here nor is He dead.
Cars parked right next to the cemetery.
I love that these kids have been together for hours—romping on the mini playground, playing hide-and-seek, searching for a geo-cache stashed in a treeline behind the cemetery… This setting invites such play, reminding me of my own upbringing in a small town Lutheran church.
The scene reflected in the shiny bumper of a car.
Guys chatted next to tractors.
Lovely crabapple trees edge the parking lot. St. John’s members make their famous apple jelly from these apples to sell at Germanfest.
On this Saturday, this cruise-in is not just a gathering of car, truck and tractor enthusiasts showing off their vehicles. This event is about memories and socializing, about slowing down and appreciating the beauty and quiet of this reverent country place. It’s about being neighborly.
Volunteers served up a generous plate of a BBQ pulled pork sandwich, potato salad and beans, all for $5.
That delicious food.
And it’s also about the food, this time delicious BBQ pulled pork sandwiches from the Rice County Pork Producers.
I always leave St. John’s feeling happy and smiling.
St. John’s, from my experience, has always nourished the body, soul and spirit. And on this late July morning, this cruise-in accomplishes that mission in food, setting and friendly conversation.
FYI: Check back tomorrow and the day after for more photos from the St. John’s Cruise-In Car Show.
FOR ST. JOHN’S UNITED CHURCH of Christ, Wheeling Township, a weekend Cruise-In Car Show offers an opportunity to bring the community together.
There’s no ulterior motive. This isn’t a fundraiser. The church isn’t trying to get folks to join.
Rather, says Steve Wille of the St. John’s Revitalization Group, the Car Show is strictly a social event aimed at bringing folks together in a neighborly sort of way. I like that. Visiting with your neighbors, he says, seems to be a lost art.
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Wheeling Township. Minnesota Prairie Roots file photo.
St. John’s, a country church located east of Faribault near Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, is good at reaching out to the community. The congregation hosts annual events like the Big Woods Run, The Last Supper Drama,German Fest, an ice cream social and more. I’ve been there many times, often enough that congregants know me. These folks are country friendly and welcoming. And they’re fantastic cooks and bakers.
No St. John’s event is complete without food. Pork sandwiches and snacks will be available at the 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Saturday, July 30, Cruise-In Car Show.
Car Show is a bit of a misnomer, though. Trucks and tractors are also welcome with first place trophies awarded to each of the top three.
If you enjoy cruise-ins, country churches, a rural setting and visiting, consider attending (or participating in) St. John’s first-ever Cruise-In Car Show.
FYI: St. John’s is located 10 miles northeast of Faribault. Take Minnesota State Highway 60 east for eight miles and then turn north onto Rice County 24. Drive two miles to 19086 Jacobs Avenue.
A snippet of the tractors and more displayed at the Rice County Steam & Gas Engines Show.
Past memories.
Spotted at the flea market…
And building memories.
A sign along Highway 3 welcomes visitors.
The Rice County Steam & Gas Engines, Inc., annual Labor Day weekend show, which continues through Sunday, brought back many memories for me as I wandered among tractors and flea market merchandise and more for nearly four hours Saturday.
The young and the older guide a John Deere toward the parade route.
Curve of a Surge milking machine. Putt-putt-putt of a John Deere tractor chugging along the tractor parade route.
Al and Marlene Sutherland of Country Junction, Tripoli, Iowa, pose with the replica small scale farm buildings Al constructs. He taps into his memory to design and build the buildings. The corn crib in the foreground includes 400 pieces and sells for $200.
The agrarian lines of a corn crib.
Vintage oil cans grabbed my attention at the flea market.
A Midland oil can. An NFO sign. All so familiar.
Rows and rows of tractors, including these John Deeres, line the grounds.
As I paused to admire an aged, rusty John Deere, an elderly woman said the green machine brought tears to her eyes. It was exactly like the one her father drove.
Brothers William and Jacob climb atop a Farmall.
Nearby, grandparents smiled as their two great grandsons climbed onto a Farmall. Building memories.
Several steam engines are part of the exhibition.
If you’re into farming of yesteryear and flea markets, then consider attending this event. Gates open at 7 a.m. Sunday and close at 5:30 p.m. A tractor pull is slated for 9 a.m. Admission is $8 with 12 and under free.
Fords, including this one from Westbrook Ag Power (where my oldest brother is part owner) were the featured tractor at this year’s show. This Ford is owned by a rural Northfield man.
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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