At 70 years, Montana Seed Show has transformed

This past weekend, the annual Montana Seed Show was hosted at Harlem High School, marking 70 years of the Hi-Line tradition.

Since 1949, the event has brought together members of the community to share expertise in a number of vocations and to compete in a slew of old traditions.

In modern times, the show is a three-day blitz of agriculture, vendors, auctions, food and more, but it comes from much more humble beginnings.

Seed Show Chairman Paul Rasmussen said the original seed show was a gathering of local potato farmers wishing to compare their crops in a time when potatoes were a key product in the area.

"In 1949, it started as a seed and potato show," he said. "They called it the Milk River Certified Potato and Registered Seed Show. They were trying to make a place where registered seed growers could show off their seed stock. It was for potatoes, mostly, when it started, and it kind of got morphed into what it is now. It shows you how the times have changed."

Rasmussen said he believes the idea for a show in Harlem was taken from a seed show in Malta that began more than 20 years prior, but with such a long history, some origins are being lost to time.

"I knew they started the pie auction in 1963 because I have records that go back that far," he said, adding that other staples of the seed show, such as the bread auction, have more ambiguous beginnings.

"Kenny Hansen, who was big into the seed show, had gone to an ag show somewhere and they had a pie bakeoff and he thought it would work here," he said. "Up until then they didn't have anything that made them any money, so they added the pie bakeoff. It used to be that they'd choose five finalists and those five finalists had to come back on Saturday and bake another pie. Then, they'd auction the pies off and that was a way they were bringing in money, and that's how we still make our money."

Rasmussen said the pie and bread auctions are two of the biggest fundraisers for the non-profit seed show. Artists and vendors who participate, though, take home all the money from their sales, he added.

"All of that money goes to the artists. The lunch counters, we don't take a cut from that, either. Today it all goes to the church, yesterday it all went to the swim team," he said.

While fundraising efforts in recent years have been relatively meager, Rasmussen said the seed show board members wanted to spend a little extra to celebrate the event's 70th year.

"We did a couple different things this year," he said. "Used to be, years ago, they did a kickoff dinner Thursday night, and it was for men only and they would smoke cigars and drink whisky. Friday night they had a style show and that was for the ladies."

Rasmussen said a more inclusive version of the kickoff dinner was resurrected this year to celebrate the people who have been involved in running the show over the past 70 years.

"It wasn't anything like what it used to be," he said. "There were a lot - a lot - of people who came before me who got (the seed show) here. I was trying to say thank you."

While many of the original pillars of the Montana Seed Show are waning - there were no potatoes entered this year, and fewer seeds than in the past - the organizers still hope that newer features, like the health fair and guest speakers, will help make the show into something that survives for decades into the future.

"I just want to thank the community, obviously, for helping us and supporting us for another year," Rasmussen said. "If they're not coming to help us, we won't be here. This isn't just Harlem, it's a lot of the surrounding area that pulls together to do this. We couldn't do it without the people here and around us."

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