Dennis Rupert’s Rumely 25hp double-high pressure engine No. 6287 and Norm Stevens 1912 Rumely 30hp double-high pressure engine No. 6323 get ready for the big occasion. Along with the 36hp Rumely from Rollag the three engines pulled a 50-bottom frame plough - an incredible sight.

The oldest steam show in the United States of America is organised by the National Threshers Association and takes place during the last full weekend of June each year. The event is held at the Fulton County Fairgrounds, Wauseon, Ohio, just two hours drive from Cleveland Airport.
The founding members formed the National Threshers Association: “to create and maintain an organised group of persons who are interested, in all aspects of steam and internal combustion powered equipment and machinery.” That short passage is from NTA’s Articles of Incorporation dated December 15, 1950. Here we are 54 years later and they are still gathering to work equipment, watch others at play, and get together with friends old and new from throughout the USA and Canada. The thing I liked about the NTA, is that many of the steam owners are under 50 and are very keen to use their engines to the full, more so than in the UK.

The roots of the NTA date back to 1944 when LeRoy Blaker attended the Wheat Tithing and Threshing Project conducted by Perry Hayden in Tecumseh, Michigan. Perry had the idea of seeing how far a few bushels of wheat can multiply every year.
Blaker was impressed with the gathering and decided to sponsor his own threshing ‘bee’ on his farm in Alvorton, Ohio. That first year, with the help of his wife and associates, they sent out 300 penny postcards. The cards invited friends and told them, in turn, to invite their friends to witness a renewal of the good old days of steam. Witness they did, and the National Threshers were created!

The reunions were held at the Blaker farm from 1945 until they outgrew the facilities in 1952. From 1953 until 1964, the shows were held at the Williams County Fairgrounds in Montpelier, Ohio. Since 1965, the National Threshers have held the reunions at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Wauseon, Ohio. It is interesting to note that Fulton County was named after the inventor of the steam boat, Robert S. Fulton.
LeRoy Blaker was certainly well known by many including Henry Ford and A. D. Baker. Henry Ford even sent several pieces of equipment from his museum to the show including a steam calliope. A. D. Baker, the inventor of the famous Baker valve gear gave the National Threshers one of his original Baker fans and attended one year. Today this precious item is still used at the show and operated by A. D. Baker’s grandson Edgar Bergen.

Longevity is apparent at all levels, and only three men have served as president: LeRoy Blaker for 25 years, Ernie Hoffer until 1975, and Marv Brodbeck from 1976 until 2003. The same applies to the association’s chaplain, they have only had three, including the Reverend Elmer Ritzman, classed by many as the ‘father’ of the USA steam traction engine movement.