After refurbishing a more than century-old threshing machine, a father, son duo have inspired a small Saskatchewan town to host its first-ever “threshing bee.” Peter Dejager, who lives southeast of Regina near Corning, has always had a passion for old farming equipment. His most recent purchase was a 1921 McCormick-Deering threshing machine. “My dad and I like to [work on] antiques as our hobby. We had old tractors, but had nothing to run them so I wanted to do a threshing machine,” Dejager told CTV News. The old machine hasn’t operated in 90 years. However, Dejager has been eagerly working in the last five years to get the antique tractor back on its feet. “Today is actually the first time I ran anything through it,” Dejager said smiling. “First I was a bit nervous, but I am very surprised and glad that nothing broke — that it’s all in one piece still.” After hearing about Dejager’s recent project, The Kipling and District Historical Society decided to host the town’s first ever “threshing bee.” On Sunday, the all-day event featured a parade, antique tractors and trucks, a view of historical buildings as well as activities for families to enjoy at the Kipling Museum. “[Peter] rebuilt the whole thing, it even has ‘Made in Canada’ on it. He’s really proud of it,” said Elaine Hamelin, secretary for the town’s historical society. “He came on to our board of directors and he’s the one who arranged his threshing bee for today.” Along with the museum’s other attractions, Hamelin said the threshing machine helps educate people on how farming was done in the 1920s compared to the present day. “Years ago [farmers] would have steam engines because the tractors weren’t available then and probably [had] horses pulling the racks, but you would have the farmers up top with pitchforks, pitching sheaves into the threshing machine and straw going out the other end,” she explained. Hundreds of people attended the event including those who travelled from outside the small town. “We read about it so we thought we’d better come and see it. I haven’t been at a threshing bee for quite a few years,” said Marlene Wood, who lives in the hamlet of Corning. Wood has fond memories of other threshing events from previous years. “Our son was about 14 years old. He got up on the wagon, him, his dad and grandfather pitched sheaves into the thrashing machine that day,” she said. “I have pictures to prove it … I’m thinking it’s 50 years ago at least.” Kourosh Woolridge and his father came from Regina to see the machines for themselves. “It’s really cool. I like to see what it’s like behind the scenes, like how they [harvest wheat],” he said. “It’s really nice you get to learn about how farming works.” With this year’s event deemed a success, The Kipling and District Historical Society plans to continue hosting an annual threshing bee in the upcoming years.
