ILLIANA NEWS

JULY 2008                                                 ISSUE 7

 

SPECIAL MEETING PLANNED:

President Tom Swanson  has scheduled a meeting for the Illiana Antique Power Assoc.  for July 14th at 6:30 P.M. at the clubhouse to finalize details for this year’s show.  We will have our usual carry-in dinner before the meeting so, bring a dish to pass.  WORK DAYS:   Tom is planning to be at the grounds during the week before the show (July 12 - 17th) to supervise the activities.  Any help and time you can spend is welcome.  PLEASE HELP OUT....THERE IS STILL A LOT TO DO TO GET THE  “SHOW ON THE ROAD!”

 

LETTER TO CLUB MEMBERS:

     If any of you have not been to the show grounds for a while, there has been some very nice improvements made... the new Anvil Pounder’s Building  (Blacksmith’s), the ladies new Cooking Building, the wonderful re-model to the Old Gas Station (now a beautiful little cottage for Deb Dillman’s Wooden Bowl Works), the new Railroad Crossing on the main road, and the wonderful florescent lights in the clubhouse.  These improvements are what keeps our club getting better and better!  There are hundreds of other little tasks that needs to be done before the show.  It sure would be nice if more people would show up to help.  That’s what makes these tasks get done.  Don’t just think that some one else will do it - COME AND HELP - there is always something to do!   Even if you are not able to do the big jobs, there are little details to!  It’s more fun and more satisfying with more people around.  After all, it’s your club to!                       Terry Bodine

P.S.  We’re about to work  poor ole’ Tom Swanson to a frazzle.  Let’s not “burn him out!”  He is too valuable to our club!   

 

CHANGES IN PARKING THIS YEAR:

This year, the club had decided to do the parking and collecting the gate fee themselves.  We need volunteers to help park cars in the parking lot and also collect gate fees as the cars come in to the grounds.  There will be a sign up sheet in the club house.  Shifts will be 2 hr.- shifts on Fri., Sat. and Sun.  There will be a tent for taking money and handing out programs.  We need lots of help here.  Man or woman.  Thanks for your help.  “Lots of hands make light work for all”.  See you at the show this year!                                        Tom Nickle

 

A special THANK-YOU to John Carrell Jr.  for several loads of millings (gravel) on the road ways around the show grounds.  It has sure improved the driveways!

Thanks John!

 

CHECK-OFF LIST  FOR THE SHOW:   

_____1.   Friday Night Dinner: There is a change in the menu for Friday’s Dinner.  We will be

                serving hot dogs instead of ham and beans.  They will be cooked by the steam engine

                along with the sweet corn (if available) and potatoes.  Kathy Olin will provide her 

                delicious slaw.  Drinks will be provided by the club.  A donation of a desert is

                welcome, but not required.

_____2.   Camping: The camping spaces are almost full.  Check with John Carrell: Ph.  765-793-

                3282 or e-mail: pacarrell@sbcglobal.net        Summers Camp Grounds is just down the

                road from the grounds.  Ph.  765-762-2832

_____3.   Kenny Short will be announcing events over the P.A. system.  Contact Kenny: Ph.

                765-583-2991 or e-mail: kimshort_9@hotmail.com

_____4.   Sign-up to work at the gate.  Tom Nickle needs volunteers for 2-hr.  shifts.

_____5.   Exhibitors: All exhibitors need to un-load at the west end of the parking lot and

                drive along the side of the R.R. tracks to the north-east corner by the saw mill. 

                NO EXCEPTIONS!  The east drive will be closed off.  No parking around Dillman’s

                saw mill.  Empty trailers will be stored in the parking area.

_____6.   Pie booth: Please donate 2 - 4 pies (cakes, cookies, cobblers, etc. are welcome)

                Mark the item on the cover to make it easier for the person cutting into pieces.

                REMEMBER: NO DESSERTS THAT  REQUIRE REFRIGERATION.  Marie Nickle

                will also need volunteers to help in the tent.  Let’s help her for an hour or two.

_____7.   FLOWERS: Please loan us your pots of plants or flowers to set around the grounds.

                THANKS to the person (or persons) who have already planted some lovely flowers

                around the grounds.  All the flowers are just beautiful!  Again, we have one of the

                prettiest show grounds and the plants and flowers make it all the lovelier!

_____8.   Church Service: Plan to attend the church service on Sunday morning.  It will be

                held in the ladies tent as usual.

_____9.   SELL THOSE RAFFLE TICKETS!  We have some nice prizes.  All misc. donations

                of items for the raffle will be appreciated.  Let’s make some money!!!

 

The Blacksmiths have been working diligently to get ready for their shows and do not have any news for this month’s newsletter.  We’re looking forward to seeing them work in their new building!

 

        REMEMBER OUR PRESIDENT’S GOAL!

200 TRACTORS AND 200 GAS ENGINES!

                     

                      THEY DO NOT HAVE TO BE RESTORED

                           WANT ALL MAKES AND MODELS

    

 

                         


AUTHORS:

Joan Fry has invited the authors to the show again this year.  They will be located at the ladies tent.  Their books are collections of real life stories and farm related children’s books.  Take the time and visit with them as they will have their books for sale.  Try to catch their story hour!

 

“IN THE NEWS”:

On July 8th at noon, Channel 18 from Lafayette will do an interview with Tom Swanson and Rob Durrett.  Try to tune in if you can.  Also see our show listed  in “Red Power” magazine.  (Thanks, Bob Parsell)

 

LOGS FOR THE SAW MILL:

We have a few logs for the saw mill.  We need  some more for the show.  If anyone has some available that they would like to be sawed,  please contact Alan Moudy: Ph.  765-793-1406 or Terry Bodine: Ph.  765-294-2768.  Logs need to be moderate in size and no “steel” in them!

 

NEW ATTRACTIONS:

This year we’re excited to include a model railroad exhibit.  It will be set up in the shed east of the clubhouse.  Also, we have some new crafts and demonstrations scheduled.  Friday afternoon we will learn how to make our own garden stepping stones and on Saturday it will be concrete bird baths.  On Sunday, Jane Reavley will do a cheese demonstration.  Inserted in the ad book that’s handed out at the gate will be a page for the children.  They will have a tractor to color and be able to play “scavenger-bingo” with questions and clues scattered among the exhibits.

 

“CALLING ALL PLUMBERS”:

The faucets through out  the show grounds are needed to be repaired.   We need some volunteers to take on this job so the water can be turned on and used during the show.  Call Tom Swanson for details: Ph.  765-762-2009.

 

“THANK-YOU - THANK-YOU - THANK-YOU!!!”

     I would like to thank all my friends from the Illiana Steam & Power Assoc.  For the beautiful planter I received.  Also, for all the cards, phone calls, prayers and special thoughts during my surgery and recovery.  I am doing fine and hopefully will not have to visit the doctor again for four months.

     Doris Manlief - Secretary-Treasurer

 

Check out our web site: www.illianaantiquepower.com

Pete VonStein has done an excellent job of up-dating our web site for the show!

 

On a sad note, the Fry family has had a nephew pass away this past month.  Our sympathy is with them and their families.

 

Re-printed from THE GOOD OLD DAYS book; by R.  J.  McGinnis

                                               THE PATCHWORK QUILT

The patchwork quilt was the product of long winter nights on the farm in the days when bad roads bound the family to the confines of the homestead.  Conceived in thrift, it became, in time, an artistic outlet, a means of self-expression.  It was usually made for show and not for use.  It was folded away in mothballs, to be given as a wedding present or passed on to a second generation.  Sometimes it was displayed on the guest room bed or brought out for Sunday afternoon guests to admire.

Scraps of cloth left over from the material used in making aprons, dresses and shirts were saved.  The design was chosen and the pieces cut, matched and stored away.  They were sewed by hand, a figure at a time.  After the design was completed neighbor women were invited to a quilting bee.  The backing of muslin or silk was placed on the quilting frame, the cotton or wool batting spread over it and quilted to the design.  Care was taken that the stitches were uniform.  The smaller the individual pieces of cloth, the more valuable the quilt.  Sometimes the pieces were outlined by fancy crisscross stitches in silk thread.  An all-silk quilt in intricate design set a woman high in a community.

When neighbors were invited to a quilting bee they went, come hell or high water.  If they didn’t they knew they would be torn apart.  That is one reason for the inexhaustible number of quilts in the country. 

A good quilter could recite the history and origin of every piece in her favorite quilt.  Designs tended to become standardized within the family and within the community.  From the South came designs such as “Dixie Rose,” “Honeysuckle,” “General Lee’s Rose,” and “Cannon Ball.”  From Revolutionary ancestors have come such titles as “The Pannier,” or basket, which was supposed to have been brought over by Benjamin Franklin from the French Court, and the “Fleur-de-lis” or “Iris,” which was of French origin.  In the American highlands of Kentucky and Tennessee, where some of the best quilts were, and now made, designs have been handed down for generations.  Stained and yellowed, they are the only legacy these gaunt people have from their heroic past.  Every substantial family has one or two.

 

There will be a display of quilts at the show.....we have some talented quilters among us.  If you would like to display one of your own quilts, please bring it to the show.  (Make sure your name is attached.)  The quilters group headed by Sophia Rosa will have items they have made for sale.

 

 

 

 

DID YOU KNOW?

In 1859, McCormick’s plant occupied 110,000 square feet of  floor area.  During that season, the plant consumed 371,000 board feet of lumber, over 48,000 pounds of cast steel, 62,500 feet of iron chain, 661 tons if wrought iron, and 942 ton of pig iron.  In addition, 170,000 pounds of malleable iron guard fingers were used, along with 90,000 pounds of tin, copper and zinc.  McCormick’s plant was destroyed in the 1871 Chicago Fire.  Almost immediately, McCormick began rebuilding his plant, installing power-driven machinery of unequalled speed and accuracy. 

All of the machinery was powered by a central steam engine.  Power was distributed with belts and lineshafting.