An event in Centreville will feature a home-cooked breakfast, live demonstrations of antique farm and sawmill equipment, and wagon rides this weekend. The Old-Fashioned Fall Harvest event will take place Friday evening and for the entire day Saturday on the farm of Melvin and Orpha Hochstetler. It will serve as a medical benefit fundraiser for Mr. Hochstetler.
The all-volunteer event replicates what fall gatherings were like during harvest time on early 20th century farms. It will kick off with a steam engine spark show at dusk this Friday, October 16. A spark show involves operators of steam tractors throwing wood shavings or other fine materials into the fireboxes of their machines. A forced draft from the engine causes embers to shoot skyward from the smokestack, and the effect can resemble a firework show against a dark sky at night.
On Saturday, the day will begin with a homestyle breakfast that lasts from 8 a.m. until noon. Donations will be accepted for the breakfast, which includes eggs, sausage patties, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, orange juice, and coffee. Organizers told Watershed Voice that the sausage patties were just made on Tuesday evening, and there will also be doughnuts made fresh on Saturday morning.
Throughout the day, there will be demonstrations taking place of various antique machinery. There will be a wheat threshing machine, which separates the edible grain from the straw by shaking it on a series of grates. Organizers said there are at least two large bundles of wheat to process. A corn shredding machine will process two wagonloads of corn, and there will be a sawmill processing lumber.
All of the machines will be driven by steam-powered tractors, with the power transmitted by pulleys and old-fashioned leather belts. Organizers said they expect to have at least three steam engines on hand to do the work and to be available for viewing by the public.
In addition, there will also be various antique, internal combustion tractors and other engines. There will be tractor pulls, and ice cream will be made using an antique “hit and miss” style gasoline engine. Wagon rides will be pulled by draft horses.
Because the event will take place largely outdoors and in an open setting, masks will be welcome but not required at most parts of the event. Organizers said masks will be required only when and where mandated by health authorities. Attendees will be responsible for taking their own social distancing measures.
The event address is 25938 Truckenmiller Road, which is a Centreville address, but it is located a short distance short of Nottawa village. It is on Truckenmiller just off Nottawa Road. Signs for the Hochstetler Farm are posted on Nottawa Road at Truckenmiller.
NOTE: This article was updated at 9:15 p.m. on October 16, 2020 with additional details about the event location.
Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
