Rice County Steam and Gas Engines Club to hold 49th annual event

The Rice County Gas and Steam Engines Club will be holding its annual event this weekend, Aug. 30-Sept. There will be activities for children and adults, a raffle, a flea market, and much more.

However, the main focus, as always, is the antique gas and steam powered tractors on display all weekend.

Bill Becker, the club President, Jeremy Sevick, the vice president, and Carmen Sevick, the secretary, handle the planning and delegating of the responsibilities to be able to hold the event.

“I just delegate the jobs that need to be done. It takes a village to pull off an event this size.”, commented Becker.

The club membership runs around 125 members and it takes all of the members to plan this event.

Carmen Sevick noted, “We all have a job to do.”

There is plenty to do at the three-day event. There will be a tractor pull on Sunday; there’s live music daily; there’s a miniature train that both adults and children can ride.

Every day at noon, the Parade of Power will take place, parading the tractors in front of the gathered people. Food vendors will also be at the event, so families can spend the day at the activities.

They will also be raffling off a tractor, a yearly feature. This year’s raffle will be a restored Minneapolis Moline tractor. The club also has a restored farmhouse on the premises for display.

“We want to show what farm life was like back in the early part of the 1900s,” said Becker.

Carmen noted that they’re adding a beer garden for adults this year. They will also have activities for the children, such as a petting zoo.

All the activities can be found on the club’s Facebook page and website. The organizers try to make the event as family friendly as possible.

Planning for the annual event begins at least a year before. They rotate the tractor company of focus each time. There are eight companies that they focus on, and this year’s focus is Minneapolis Moline. Many of the tractors on display this year will be Minneapolis Moline, including the tractor to be raffled off.

The club is looking forward to next year’s celebration, which will be its 50th anniversary. In preparation for that event, leaders are already planning on restoring an old school house they purchased and will hopefully have ready to display.

“The reason why we do this is to remind people of the days when they worked on their dad’s or grandpa’s farm and to share those stories with one another,” said Becker.

The tractors that will be displayed are not owned by the club, but by individuals who come to the event every year to share their stories and to remind others of a past time in farming.

Admission for the event is $10 for adults and children 12 and under are free and it is located at 11988 Faribault Blvd in Dundas. For more information, visit the club’s website at ricecountysteamandgas.com .