Western Ontario Steam Threshers Reunion begins Friday in Forest

A Lambton County tradition celebrating steam-powered farming, and other vintage equipment, returns this weekend to the fairgrounds in Forest.

It’s the 66th year for the Western Ontario Steam Threshers Association’s “reunion” in Lambton County.

The event officially opens at noon Friday and continues Saturday and Sunday with displays of antique and vintage farm engines and machinery, as well as live musical entertainment, children’s activities, vendors and more.

“We’re trying to get the young people in to see how farming was 70, 80, 100 years ago,” association president Dale Hillier said.

“We are the oldest steam show in Ontario, I believe.”

The reunion dates back to 1957 and an event held at a Corunna-area farm with several Sawyer-Massey steam engines and a John Goodison steam engine on display.

More than 500 people attended that first year and the meetings continued and were later held at fairgrounds in Brigden before moving to Forest several years ago.

Gates open Saturday and Sunday at 9 am

Along with steam engines, a large number of antique and vintage tractors will be on display.

There will be “Parades of Power” during the weekend where steam engines and tractors parade for the crowd around a track at the fairgrounds.

The full schedule and other information about the meeting can be found at the association’s website, steamthresher.com.

“There’s probably a couple thousand people through the gates all weekend,” Hillier said.

Four steam engines are expected to be set up, he said.

“A lot of people are fascinated with the steam engines. We have demonstrations all weekend.”

That includes steam-powered grain threshing, as well as a veneer mill from a former basket factory in Forest.

“It should be running all weekend,” Hillier said.

There’s also a shingle mill that was also used in the factory to cut the bottoms of its wooden baskets, he said.

“We only found that out a few years ago,” from someone who attended the show, Hillier said.

The sharing of those types of memories from previous eras is one of the benefits of the annual events, he said.

Also on display again this year will be an engine that came to the association from the Belton lumber company after it closed in Sarnia.

“It’s going to be in working order this weekend,” Hillier said.

A “bean pot” will be bubbling Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s basically a bean soup” cooked in a large cast iron pot over a fire, Hillier said.

“They start around 6 am and aim for around noon” to have it ready for the public to enjoy in exchange for a donation, he said. “It’s a treat.”

There will also be tractor pulls during the weekend including an “out-of-the-field” pull Saturday evening.

“That’s where we let any of the neighboring farmers bring out the tractors they use every day and see how well they pull . . . just for bragging rights,” Hillier said.

Events for children include “candy in the straw.” Just like it sounds, organizers toss candy into a pile of straw youngsters can search through.

“Kids have a lot of fun doing that,” Hillier said.

The association’s membership stretches beyond Lambton County to neighboring Chatham-Kent and Middlesex County and new members are always welcome, he said.

“We’re just trying to keep this thing going as long as we can.”

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