JAMESTOWN, N.D. — The threshing bug bit siblings Adam and Karly Held early in life.
Having grown up around threshing, it was only natural the Egeland natives participate in a world-record attempt when asked by a friend.
“My uncle was big into (threshing),” Adam said. “We got into it when we restored a steam engine and put a new boiler on it. I came to like it so much.”
The two Torchbearers, along with friends Ethan Oakland and Justin Huseth, played a part in setting a Guinness World Record for most threshing machines operating at once. The event was held at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum on July 31 as part of the 62nd Manitoba Threshermen’s Reunion and Stampede.
In total, 150 threshing machines were on hand, with 139 completing the mission, breaking the previous record of 111, which was set at a festival in St. Albert, Ontario in 2015. The machines are required to run for 15 minutes.
It’s estimated that 75 acres of wheat and 30,000 sheaves had to be cut for machines that came from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota.
“It’s something that’ll happen once in a lifetime, and we had the chance to be a part of it,” Adam said. “I felt pretty good about it.”
Adam, who is 23 years old, said the picture of that many threshing machines spaced out in the field was “surreal.”
“It was hard to believe when we first walked out,” he said. “A hundred and fifty threshing machines in one spot is kind of unbelievable. I’m not even sure if there are 150 left in North Dakota.”
Likewise, Karly, 20, struggled to get a handle on the sight right away.
“It was a crazy experience,” she said. “I had no idea it would be that large. You couldn’t walk anywhere, it was so huge. It was kind of overwhelming at times, because there was so much to see and so much to do. There wasn’t ever a dull moment.”
When the action started, Karly pitched bundles while Adam was an operator, helping control the speed of the threshing on a machine they brought to the show, the Champion #1 of 1890.
Adam said the event was well-staffed, with more than 700 people, though that included plenty of spectators, too. The run time may not have been long, but it was still an “all-day event.”
It was different than the Dale and Martha Hawk Museum’s annual antique farm show, which the Held siblings have helped out with since they were little. They prefer their local show, which is held near Rolette.
“We love it out there,” Karly said. “There’s time to sit around and ‘Enjoy the steam’ as we often say.”
Though it may not feature a threshing record, the 28th annual Hawk Show is from June 9-11 and has threshing shows, old-time music, parades, a blacksmith and schooling event as well as three eateries and other fun events. The event is four miles east and three miles north of Wolford, and the Held siblings are sure to be on hand.
“I love going out there for the weekend,” Karly said. “Sunday is so depressing because everybody leaves and it’s over.”
More information on the Hawk Show can be found at hawkmuseum.org.
— Chris Aarhus, NDFU
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