Erie farm’s threshing bee to give visitors close-up look at old-fashioned farming

If the daily grind of modern-day living is wearing you down, the Bos Brothers Fall Harvest Show may be the elixir to help you catch your breath, step back in time and experience “field to table” firsthand.

Antique farm machinery in a spectrum of colors and styles will descend again on the Bos Brothers Historical Farm, located on Springhill Road south of Erie, for the 10th anniversary show Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 25-27. Show hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

This year’s “old-fashioned threshing bee” will give visitors a glimpse of how farmers harvested wheat before automated, air-conditioned combines with global positioning navigation arrived.

Visitors also can view demonstrations that show how some agricultural-related skills were done before automation – all for free.

“We will be focusing on harvesting wheat and processing it to the final step – homemade wheat bread,” Katie Lewis said. “We will also have other activities going on throughout the weekend.”

Those activities include hand quilting, pottery throwing, rug weaving, crochet demonstrations, macrame demonstrations, basket weaving, wheat weaving, wood turning, broom making, blacksmithing, pinning and treadle sewing.

Other demonstrations include plowing by hand, a sawmill operation, a working shingle mill, a rock and lime crusher, and, of course, threshing.

Modern harvesting involves the use of a combine harvester that reaps, threshes and winnows – separates the chaff from the grain – all in one machine.

Visitors to the Bos Brothers Fall Harvest Show will get to see both methods.

“We will be harvesting wheat all three days,” Lewis said. “We will be combining some of the wheat field. The wheat we don’t combine will go to the threshing machine, then to the flour mill and then to the cook shack to make wheat bread.”

Lewis is the daughter of Chuck Bos, who with his brother Kevin, started the harvest shows in 2016. The family has been busy planning, scheduling and organizing this year’s show – a task that Lewis and her family embrace more as a “labor of love.”

The Bos farm family alternates its harvest show with its threshing show on odd and even years. Last year’s show concentrated on corn.

“It’s a lot of work, but we really love it,” Lewis said. “We enjoy seeing the people outside, getting to see new things and seeing where their food comes from. We love to see people come to the show and slow down.”

There is no admission fee.

“We run off of donations and sponsorships,” Lewis said.

To help cover the costs of the show, visitors can deposit donations in milk cans located on the show’s grounds or stop by the registration barn.

“We have a wonderful group of people demonstrating for us,” Lewis said. “It makes for a fun weekend.”

Here’s a look at more show events planned this year:

• Learn about honeybees, with honey and maple syrup available to buy.

• John Deere Unstyled Tractor Field Days. “Unstyled” John Deere tractors are those made before 1939 when John Deere began covering the radiator, fuel tank and other parts with styled sheet metal. It took a few years before all models became “styled.”

• A church service in the barn at 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

• Truck and tractor pull with Back Road Pullers at 1 p.m. Sunday.

• A portable saw mill powered by Charles Hubbard of Chana, who will bring his 1916 Case steam tractor. The 20,000-pound tractor was used by Hubbard’s grandfather.

• The behemoth Aultman and Taylor kerosene-powered tractor owned by Chuck and Diane Bos. The popular 30-60, complete with 90-inch drive wheels and standing 11.5 feet tall and more than 18 feet long, was produced from 1910 until the company was sold in 1924.

Lewis said the shows would not be possible without the support of friends and neighbors.

“We have so many friends and families that help us,” Lewis said. “We couldn’t do it without them.”

For more information, visit bosbrothershistoricalfarm.com.

History of the name

Bos Brothers is how the Boses were known throughout the area. Clarence Bos had four boys – Robert, Bill, Charles and Peter. (Charles is Chuck and Kevin’s dad.) They all farmed together in the 1950s and 1960s in the Erie/Geneseo area.

“My dad remembers their grain trucks had the name Bos Bros. Erie ILL on it,” Lewis said. “That is how they were known in the community as the Bos Brothers. So the show is named after them. And we host the show in Erie, so it’s perfect.”