ILLIANA NEWS

APRIL 2011

MEETING:

The next meeting of the Illiana Antique Power Assoc. will be held at the clubhouse on April 18, 2011 at 6:30 P.M. Bring a dish to pass for the dinner. At the March meeting it was decided to change the amount paid out for first, second and third prizes for the raffle. First place will be $300.00, Second place will be $200.00 and Third place is $100.00. Tickets will be available along with Show Flyers and the new business cards advertising this year’s show. So plan to attend and pick some of these items up to pass out and start selling those raffle ticket! See you there!

WORK DAY SCHEDULED:

A workday to clean up the show grounds is scheduled for April 16, 2011 at 9:00 A.M. Bring your rakes, leaf blowers and “elbow grease”. All help is needed to spruce up after Mother Nature gave us such a terrible winter! There is plenty of work that needs to be done. We’d like to thank Wayburn Norflett and Terry Bodine for repairing the water lines in the clubhouse. All the water lines were froze and “busted” some time over the winter but they were able to have them fixed before the March meeting. And thanks to Kenny Short for cleaning the clubhouse before the March meeting and setting up the tables and chairs. Thanks guys! So, mark your calendars and try to attend the workday on April 16^th.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my “STAR” reporters for the great articles that they submit each month. Tom Swanson’s “Letter from the President”, Ted and Finny have been contributing to the newsletter for several years. Tom B., Joan and Sophia are new and I hope you enjoy their articles. Let them know how you as members welcome them. Anyone who has something interesting to submit; from shows they’ve attended, items for sale, maybe a special recipe you’d like to share, tractor information, farm news, etc., please send them to me. E-mail: abodine1@wildblue.net or 1835 W. SR. 32. Covington, In. 47932. I need them at the first of each month. Thanks for your support……and again, thanks to Tom S., Ted, Finny, Tom B., Sophia and Joan. Keep up the good work!

Anne Bodine

TRI-COUNTY QUILTERS:

Hello from Tri-County Quilters!

I’m back with lot’s more to talk about. We had our monthly meeting with nine members present. I had to project and we made table runners. You can see them at the show in July. One of our goals is to send boxes to members of the armed services in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have sent two already and have enough items for at least two more.

Soldiers seeing action are the ones we would like to receive our packages. I’m sure there are many others in need. Just send me a name and address. Our club is planning a trip to Arthur, Il. to see a quilt show in May. Of course we must stop at every fabric shop we see! Lunch is also on the top of the list. The club is planning on participating in the History Day. We will be teaching anyone interested to make a four-patch quilt block. Hopefully we will have all the muslin bags made by the time you read this. We are having a workshop at Joan Fry’s. (NOTE: The quilters have generously agreed to make the souvenir bags the students receive at History Day. This is always a BIG JOB so we want to thank them for sewing the bags for us!) We have two Quilts of Valor ready to be quilted. One of our members has a long-arm quilting machine and she has been gracious enough to quilt them. We sure are glad she chose our club to join. She also comes up with some wonderful ideas. I’ll have to praise someone else next month to keep the peace! Everyone brought their machines this month, so we had to do our own ironing! Same time next month!

Submitted by: Sophia Rosa, 9142 E. 3^rd Ave., Pine Village, In. 47975

ROCKY FORGE BLACKSMITH NEWS:

We had a good meeting with a large attendance for the March gathering. A lot of junk metal was reformed into useable stuff. The next meeting will be Saturday, April 9^th at Ted’s shop. Dan Michael is going to review a recent conference he attended regarding the restoration of wrought iron bridges and buildings instead of demolition. His employer, Nucor Steel, was a sponsor of the workshop and sent Dan for the week long event. He will use a TV screen to show his presentation. Don’t miss this one! It looks to be very interesting to the metal-smith and to the historians. The remainder of the day will be an open forge time so we can hone our skills and share new ideas. Bring your tools and any special metal you need and iron in the hat items. Lunch will be a special dish and bread prepared by our only Norwegian member, K.J. Coffee and doughnuts will be ready by 8:30 A.M. See ya then!

Submitted by: Ted Stout

TRACTOR TRIVIA:

There were more than 185 tractor manufacturers in the United States at the beginning of 1920. The number of tractors in the U.S.A. hit one million in 1931, according to the USDA. One in six farmers owned one.

AN ENGINE STORY:

A gentleman from the Ozark hills of Missouri was in the firewood business during the 1970’s. He supplied wood to customers in St. Louis and surrounding areas. It was a lucrative business and he was good at it. He was so good that his “name to fame” was that he could split firewood by hand faster than two guys on a hydraulic wood splitter. To settle the argument, they set up a plan with a TV program to film the competition. With everything in place the race was on and being taped. The winner was the lone man, not the hydraulic wood splitter! His name is Tom Clark of Potosi, Missouri. The wood splitting video has been shown numerous times on national TV.

Tom Clark had another interest, blacksmithing. And, to make a long story short, he became one of the countries most renowned blacksmiths and operated the “Ozark School of Blacksmithing” with his wife Thelma. He totally quit the wood business and now was a teacher and vendor of blacksmithing tools. To this day his blacksmith tongs “Tom Tongs” are the best available along with his power hammer from Pakistan.

While on one of his frequent trips to Pakistan Tom discovered a company that made diesel hit and miss engines. These engines are still widely used in industry throughout Pakistan and Turkey. He saw the value of these engines for many purposes in this country, so he bought into the company and started importing them to the U.S. He was selling them for around $7500 to $8500 each and had one mounted on a trailer for travel to various shows.

Tom was diagnosed with cancer and went through many treatments and surgeries until the cancer finally won. He was a small frame individual that many people compared him to the energizer bunny. What a shock and loss to the blacksmithing community! Tom has been missed and eulogized all over the country. He was a good friend to Carol and me. We miss him.

Thelma had a real chore on her hands to disperse his school assets which included the buildings, tools, metal and the many personal items Tom had made or acquired. There were two hit and miss engines remaining in his inventory and she had no idea of what to do with them. The larger of the two, a 23 HP and 26HP, was the one he took to the various tractor shows. Since I had ordered one of his anvils with my name molded into it, Carol and I had to make the trip to pick up the anvil. Thelma proceeded to tell us about her dilemma and I simply said, “Boy those would be neat at our steam and power show.” Those were the words she wanted to hear because that is exactly where Tom would want them to end up: at a steam and power show!

We negotiated a price and were able to interest several investors from the Illiana group to purchase the Tom Clarks engines.

Getting the engines back to Indiana has been a very complicated affair. First off they weigh in at an estimated 6000 pounds each and Thelma had no way to load them. Fortunately, there is a very nice gentleman down the road from Thelma that operates a sawmill. He has a large loader capable of handling the weight of the engines.

At 5:55 A.M. on Thursday March 24^th Roger Horn with his new flat bed trailer and Ron Gamble riding shotgun met Ted Stout in his truck with his friend and neighbor Raymond Reeves riding shotgun. They met at Odell and set out for Potosi, Missouri, some 365 miles away. The trip was easy with low traffic even around St. Louis. We did pass through some snow flakes on the way, but nothing to slow us down. Loading the engines was a breeze and the trip back was also uneventful, thank God! We arrived to the Odell area about 12:30 A.M. tired, but very happy to have the engines in Indiana.

On March 29th, the engines were carefully unloaded by Kenny Evans with his heavy duty outfit. They are now sitting on the ground in the barn at the Illiana grounds, snug as a bug in a rug!! Whew!!

Since most of the engine investors are farmers, we now look forward to them getting the crops in so that time will permit cleaning and setting up the engines for the next Illiana show in July. Seems like we can hear them belching already! What an attraction these engines will be to the show.

Submitted by: Ted Stout

PINE CREEK & WESTERN R.R. NEWS:

Hi everybody!

As I write this, the weather outside is a balmy 80 degrees. A gusty wind out of the north brings with it the unmistakable odor of coal smoke, hot cylinder oil, exhaust fumes and Hawaiian pork! Where it is coming from, what can it mean? I’ll bet you all know, LOL. This first taste of long awaited spring has rekindled my love of old machinery and the great people that come with it. It’s time to get started again! With that end in mind, about ten members of the PC&W met at the club grounds on March 12^th to further our plans for the 2011 season and to inspect the right of way and facilities of the Pine

Creek & Western R.R. All was found to be in surprisingly good shape, considering the severity of last winter. The clubhouse plumbing, however, did not fare so well and plans were made to get it fixed as soon as possible. Immediate plans are to make sure the railroad is up and running in plenty of time for History Day and some new “twists” for the big meet in July. We’ll have more on this in future columns. Until then, don’t forget to “Keep a close eye on the water”.

Submitted by: Finny Filchak

LIVING HISTORY DAY 2011

The 8^th Annual Living History Day will be May 2, 2011 at the club grounds. Dave and Tara Sims believe this program is such a valuable one that schools should be able to count on it each year. So this year we are inviting all the fourth graders from all three counties, Benton, Warren and Fountain to attend. It will be a challenge but we think it can be done.

Lunch for workers will be on your own schedule. When you get hungry, just close up your station and go to the clubhouse for a break. A simple brown bag lunch will be provided, but if you want/need something special you better bring it from home. Coffee will be on hand all day. Some school classes may choose to eat their lunches on our grounds too.

It looks like we have approximately 20 stations the students can visit this year. So we will need a few more workers. Check the list to see what you want to do. Then give Dave (765-585-1389 or E-mail: dave@sterlingchurch.com) or Joan (765-869-5406 or 765-363-5406 or E-mail: fryfarm@localline.com) a call and you will have a job! If you have worked a particular station before and want to do it again, contact the person in charge of that station.

The number of stations will require some new locations so be sure to check in with Joan or Dave before you set up. Dave will have a new map ready for that day.

The Tri-County Quilters will be making the bags this year and will also be in the Quilters Cottage during Living History Day helping the kids make a four patch quilt block to take home. We will all pack the bags on Sunday afternoon, May 1^st. The assembly line works great and the job goes quickly.

John Byroad is bringing a trailer of gas engines. The engine guys hope to focus attention on the Indiana engines and what they did for Indiana. This is perfect for our Living History Day.

Weather is always a concern. All we can do is pray for a good warm sunny day! If you cannot help on May 2^nd, please help out with a few prayers!

We will begin at 9:00 A.M. and will stop at 2:30 P.M. We should have about 400 students experience a bit of living history and we will go home tired but satisfied.

Don’t forget camping all weekend! Sunday afternoon, May1st we will string and pack bags. Be ready….Monday, May 2^nd will be a blast!!!!

Submitted by: Joan Fry

CAMPING:

I would like to invite anyone interested in camping in conjunction with Living History Day. That would be Friday, Saturday and Sunday – April 29^th and 30^th and May 1^st. We would like a $10.00 per night donation to cover the cost of electricity used. This is only a free will donation…NOT REQUIRED!!! If there are any questions, please contact Kenny or Kim Short: Ph. 765-583-2991 or E-mail: kimshort_9@hotmail.com

Kenny Short

HERE IS A TENTATIVE LIST OF THE STATIONS AND THEIR CONTACT PERSONS:

Welcome at the gate………….Dave and Tara Sims

Blacksmiths…………………..Ted Stout

Lewis & Clark………………..Rob Durrett

Kathy’s Kitchen (cornbread)…Kathy Olin

Milk House (butter)…………..Jim Petty

Corn Shelling/Grinding………John Carrell

Engines……………………….John Byroad

Sawmill……………………….John Dillman

Little Baler……………………Tom Bastin

Steam Engine…………………Don Bodine

Quilters Cottage………………Sophia Rosa

Wash House/Laundry…………Kenny Short/Ed Grubb

Trains………………………….Finny Filchak

Dulcimers……………………..Donna Starry Fontaine

Games…………………………_____________??

Garden/Flower Planting………_____________??

People Mover…………………Wayburn Norfleet

Post Office…………………… _____________??

Bee Man………………………John Cunningham

Snack Station/Popcorn………._____________??

Photographer………………….Deb Dillman

Newspaper/TV Publicity……._____________??

We need someone to do: Games, Garden/Flower Planting, Post Office, Snack Station/Popcorn and Publicity. Contact Dave or Joan if interested!

MARK YOU CALENDARS:

CAMPING: APRIL 29^TH, APRIL 30^TH and MAY 1^ST

WORK DAYS: SATURDAY, APRIL 30^TH

SUNDAY, MAY 1^ST

LIVING HISTORY DAY – MAY 2, 2011

ENGINE SHED NEWS:

This month’s notes may be somewhat short as I have been a little busy. The show season has started. I will try and share what that means for a lot of us engine guys. It starts for most of us with the show book that a lot of us buy. As you may know, this book lists the shows all over the county. Most of us have our favorite ones that we go to every year. This is one of the reasons we have such a good turn out of engines. We have become a regular stop on the guys schedule and it’s sometimes hard to get guys to try a new show, but word does get spread around about the good ones. Something to keep in mind is a lot of us will leave one show and go directly the next one. I myself have done as many as fifteen in one year. Others I’m sure will do more. It can be a lot of work and expense. So be sure and thank everyone for coming out! Here in Indiana you can go to a show somewhere just about every weekend from April to September. For those who want to see engines (if you have never been) go to Kenny Wolf’s….it’s a “must see” to believe! His show is in June. The Portland Swap Meet in May will wear you and your wallet out. Also don’t miss the Portland Show in August. Take your camper and stay for 3-4 days. It will take you that long to see it all. Here in Lafayette that’s two weeks after ours and I always show there. For the tractor guys the Tipton Show is hard to beat! One of the first shows of the year around here is Steam Corner south of Veedersburg, In. and it’s a small show in May. They get a great group of engine guys. Some of them I know have been in the hobby for 50 years. You should hear the stories told! Last year, as I always try and do, I went to a new show at Camp Atterbury. This is a very nice show - a lot like ours - a good mix of engines and tractors. They also have a garden tractor pull and next door, for you railroad guys, is the Indiana Live Steamers. Yes, I rode the train….they have four miles of track set up. Some of you I know have been to Rushville. It’s big on steam but has other attractions as well. Their new grounds are great! I think my new show this year is going to be Coolsprings, Pa. It’s a must for any true engine guy. They have some of the very rare stuff but no tractors here at all, so I’m told. What I would like to see is more of us getting out to the other shows and spread the word about our show. Invite someone to visit and pass out flyers! (I always take flyers with me.) It does help. I took my dad and my uncle to Ft. Wayne for a show last weekend. One guy I worked on to come to our show had the neatest set-up that I had ever seen. It was a horse drawn exhibit with a chuck wagon. He does a lot of cooking when outdoors. Marion K. and Kathy B. were also there with the Allis gang. So let’s all get out to some new shows and maybe if we support them they will get around to us. We could maybe set up some car pools to help with the expense and driving. If anyone wants more info on a particular show, call me (765-448-1833) because I may have been there. Thanks for letting me rant…..now it’s on to the show! Later, Tom

Submitted by: Tom Bastin

THANK YOU:

THANK YOU TO CROP PRODUCTION SERVICE, ODELL, IN. FOR DONATING THE “TOP-DRESS” (FERTILIZER) ON OUR WHEAT IN EXCHANGE FOR ADVERTISING DURING OUR JULY SHOW. ALSO, THANK YOU TO TRAVIS HELMS – AN EMPLOYEE OF CROP PRODUCTION SERVICE WHO HELPED MAKE THIS HAPPEN. (ALSO CONGRAT’S TO TRAVIS WHO IS A NEW DADDY!)

ALSO, WITH GENEROUS DONATIONS FROM THE FRY’S, MANLIEF’S AND BODINE’S, THE BATHROOMS IN THE CLUBHOUSE HAVE FOUR NEW ELONGATED TOILETS PURCHASE FROM MENARDS. WAYBURN NORFLEET ALONG WITH APPRENTICES’ TOM SWANSON AND TERRY BODINE HAVE INSTALLED THEM AND ARE READY FOR HISTORY DAY.

AND, A LAST THANK YOU TO KAAREN VOGLUND AND BOB PARSELL WHO HAVE DONATED A NEW MICROWAVE FOR THE CLUBHOUSE KITCHEN. THINGS ARE LOOKING GREAT!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

SYMPATHY & GET WELL:

On a sad note again we have lost a member of our club; James Short (Kenny Short’s dad) died March 24^th after battling cancer. Anna Dillman, mother of John Dillman died March 27^th. Anna was 102 years young! And, Rudy Groff died March 27^th at Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital in Lafayette, In. Our sympathies to all the members of their families.

President, Tom Swanson needs a new hip and will be seeing a surgeon on…you guessed it…May 2^nd – Living History Day! So, Kenny Short will really “Be the Man” for the day. Tom said that May 2^nd was as soon as he could get in to see the Doctor. Our Best Wishes to Tom!

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!

WATCH FOR THE ‘LIL EASTER BUNNY!