11th Annual Iams Homestead Pioneer Harvest Fest Update

For your listening pleasure, we have added the Rock Island Plow Company, a bluegrass band to our program this year. The following is an excerpt from their webpage:



This Bluegrass group was formed in 2004 with a group of veteran musicians. Each member has an extensive personal musical background which includes rock-n-roll, country and bluegrass music. This variety of talent has formed a strong foundation for the high-energy technical music that they play together today. With a strong commitment for maintaining the classic bluegrass style performed by Flatt and Scruggs and Bill Monroe in the early days of bluegrass, coupled with the interest in newer bluegrass music written for today’s audience. Rock Island Plow Company has been playing at local venues and festivals since their inception, and continues to increase their fan base at each show. The group strives to revitalize listeners to those songs which may have been forgotten since the early days of bluegrass, and make them once again the favorites of fans as they were in former days. At the same time, they respect where bluegrass is today and perform favorites from such groups as The Lonesome River Band and Country Gentlemen. Rock Island Plow Company will continue to impress show-goers and keep them coming back for more.

The band will be playing October 10, 2009 from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Iams Homestead, 349 South Broadway, Trotwood, Ohio. For more information about the band go to http://www.ripcomusic.com/

11th Annual Iams Homestead Pioneer Harvest Fest

The Trotwood-Madison Historical Society will hold its 11th Annual Iams Homestead Pioneer Harvest Fest Saturday, October 10, 2009 at the Iams Homestead, 349 South Broadway, Trotwood, Ohio 45426. The fest will start at 10:00 AM and will go to 5:00 PM.

We will be having many of the same events that we had last year. To read about and see a slide show of last year's fest click, or cut and paste, the following link: http://t-mhs.blogspot.com/2008/10/10th-annual-iams-homestead-pioneer_31.html .

The harvest fest is always a fun-filled day and admission is free. We will have antique tractors and farm equipment on display. We will also have demonstrations on the husker-shredder, corn binder, wool spinning, and possibly other things that were done on the farms of the past.

The museum will be open for tours. One room upstairs is set up as an old school room. This room contains many of the composite pictures from the old Trotwood-Madison High School. Please stop by for a look and, if you recognize anyone in the pictures, let a member of the Society know. Another room up stairs contains bedroom furniture and other items from days gone by. The rest of the museum will have the current displays for your viewing pleasure.

We will also have old hand tools on display as well as old hand crank corn shellers for the children to use. One of the best parts of the fest is the open fire cooked chili and hotdogs. I doubt that you will find any better chili anywhere in this area. Sodas and water will also be available

There will be a corn shelling contest in the afternoon and hayrides will be given throughout the day. There are a lot of things for families to do. I think the best thing about the fest is that families can spend a day together and enjoy themselves. Every year the crowd gets larger and they stay longer.

This year we have added a new group to our list of things to do and see. Herb 'n Anvil offer an interactive blacksmithing experience that gives young people the opportunity to shape metal like a real blacksmith. The smith heats a hook and the kids get to put a decorative twist in it, thus seeing how heat transforms the metal. Kids get to keep the hook as a souvenir. Participation helps people learn how blacksmiths have turned raw metal into useful tools for centuries. In addition, there is a display of herbs used as medicine before the era of pharmaceutical medication

We are still in the planning phase and as we get closer to the harvest fest, our program will be finalized. Please check this site from time to time to see what has been added. Also click on the slide show to see more of Herb & Anvil pictures.

Junior Historical Society Meeting and Work Day

JUNIOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETING

Saturday, May 30th at 12:00 noon, the Junior Historical Society held a meeting on the lawn at the Iams house lawn. Our agenda was two fold, 1) to start planting our community garden and 2) have a presentation on Gourds. Mr. Boyd Hastings presented an overview of gourds and some of the group took a field trip to Mr. Hastings farm to look at his display of gourds. The Junior Historical Society plans to plant gourds on the Iams property. Once the gourds are ready for picking, we will paint them, carve them and make bird houses, and many other items. Also, when this project is finished, we're invited to the Gourd State Fair to show our work, win ribbons, possibly sell some items and most of all enjoy the experience of something new.

Thanks for all of your support to the Juniors and the adults who were present to aid the youth in their first experience with preservation, garden growing and being introduced to gourds. I am still in numbness about the wonderful turn out of the crowd. Just to hear the children laughing and running on the grounds sounded so enjoying and most of all they were happy. These children did not have games, skates, basketball or any other activity but they had a good time today. We walked to the garden site and planted collard greens, bell peppers, banana peppers (all three colors), onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and on Monday at 5:00 we will be planting gourds. A small group went on the Hastings farm for a short fieldtrip. We have a small spot at the end of row F and we have a few items to plant. We will get them in the ground immediately, maybe on tomorrow. There were 17 youth and 12 adults present. 12 youth were absent due to previous commitments. Some of the youth wanted to go to the garden on tomorrow to check on it. I told them that I was going to rest. I still have some recruiting to do. I want to build this group to complete some projects around the Iams property. There were some pictures taken; please send them to me for our review. More is to come soon. Joyce Cameron

Editor's Note: The day was indeed a great day for the Society. It was great having a young crowd enjoying themselves on the Society grounds again. Their laughter was very infectious and we are looking forward to their next meeting at the Iams Homestead.



For more information about the Junior Historical Society and/or the meeting on May 30, 2009, contact Joyce Sutton-Cameron at 937-657-6849

Historical Society Work Day

Saturday, May 20, 2009 the Trotwood-Madison held a work day from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon. When we first purchased the Iams Homestead, we held many work days to get the house, studio, and barn ready for use. Everyone seemed to enjoy these days and a lot of work was accomplished.



For this work day, seven members were present. We had hoped for more, but, we did a lot of work with this work crew.



Regina Kleinhenz received some donated flowers from the Miami Valley Career Technology Center (MVCTC) which were planted in various flower beds around the Iams House. The south patio area was cleared of weeds, vines and small trees and swept of debree. Vines around the tall teee near the west end of the house were cut so they should die before long. The tobacco field was relocated and tilled for the first time. It will need to be tilled at least two more times before we plant the tobacco. The grass and weeds on the west side of the barn were mowed and looks a lot better. The cistern was pumped out.



A lot was accomplished, but, there is a lot more to do. Another workday is scheduled for June 27, 2009 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon. Please come out and join us to keep the property prepared for public viewing.



For more information, contact Ralph Kuester at 937-837-5387 or rkuester@woh.rr.com

Iams House Museum

The Museum is located at 349 South Broadway, Trotwood, Ohio. It will be open on Sundays from 2 PM to 4 PM until the first of December. You may also visit by appointment. Please call Faith at 937-837-5387 or Ruth at 937-837-4095 to set up an appointment.

Galloway Hit-and-Miss Engine

We have another "new to the Historical Society" implement to add to our list of new items to display at the 2009 Annual Iams Homestead Pioneer Harvest Fest Saturday, October 10, 2009. This is a 9 horsepower Galloway engine. We also have a 2 3/4 horsepower engine, a two cylinder maytag gas engine and a pump jack. All items were donated by Jerry D. Nelson of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Jerry is Linda Keeling's brother-in-law. Linda and I recently went to Arkansas and brought them back to Ohio. All items will be available for display at the Harvest Fest, but, may not be working. We will need to do some repairs on each item before use.To view more pictures of this engine and the other items donated, view the slide show.

International Harvester Corn Binder

Each year I try to find a new farm implement to have for display at the annual Iams Homestead Pioneer Harvest Fest. Last year I found an International Harvester Corn Binder on Ebay. I asked Tony if he and Phillip would help with restoration and become joint owner if I bought the corn binder. The binder would be on permanent loan to the historical society to be used for harvesting our corn and display at the historical society when not in use.
Linda and I went to Wellville, Kansas--a rather long trip for a corn binder. We had a rather enjoyable trip. When we arrived in Wellville, the individual who owned the binder was a young man who said that he had bought it at an auction. If he had not bought the binder, the owner was going to sell it for scrap. He really was interested in keeping the binder from the scrap yard and was happy that we decided to buy it.
Unfortunately, the knotter on the binder had been stolen and I had to look for a new knotter. I was fortunate because I found another binder locally on Infirmary Road. It was in bad shape, but, did have a complete knotter that was intact. I bought the binder to get the knotter. Now we have many extra parts we can recover and keep for future use. The binder did not have the bundle carrier, but, had all the drives and connections for a bundle carrier. Phillip Kleinhenz found a bundle carrier near DeGraf that will fit the binder I got in Kansas. When we get through with restoration, we will have a binder and bundle carrier. Our goal is to have the binder renovated for the next Harvest Fest. I we have moved the binder into the Homestead Barn and have began renovation. It will be a slow process, but, the Keeling's and Kleinhenz's are anxiously waiting the renovation. We plan on going back to the original colors and markings. If anyone knows what these colors and markings are, please contact me at 937-837-5387 or email cekeeling@msn.com. If you have any pictures showing the original colors and markings, please send them to my email address. As we make progress, I will keep you posted. When finished, I will also post a new picture of the renovated corn binder.