North Central Montana Everything Antique Show returns Friday

After being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual North Central Montana Everything Antique show returns this weekend.

This year’s show will take place from Friday, June 4, through Sunday, June 6. The event will last from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Great Northern Fairgrounds.

The event includes tractor games, a Volkswagen reunion, which is a new part of the event, blacksmithing and threshing demonstration, and a display featuring the world’s largest tractor, the Big Bud 747.

Wally Duchscher, one of the event organizers, said the free antique show has been put on every year, with the exception of 2020, since 2008.

“Basically it was kind of all kinds of antiques, even though most of what we had was we first started was tractors, old tractors and the old hit-and-miss engines that used to power all your electricity and water and everything back at the turn of the century, and we would get a few old cars and trucks at our show,” Duchscher said.

Duchscher said the hit-and-miss engines — one cylinder, stationary, gasoline engines — would pump water, split logs, grind corn and some would even make ice cream.

He added that another attraction was a threshing machine demonstration, which will be a part of the antique show again this year. A grain thresher is a machine for separating wheat, peas, soybeans, and other small grain and seed crops from their chaff and straw.

“We show people how the threshing machine works and how the old stationary (hay bale machines) work and how you would tie those with wire, you had to do everything by hand for the little square bales. We’ll still be doing that on Saturday and Sunday of this year.

“Saturday and Sunday morning, we’ll probably be getting going, usually around nine o’clock, yet getting the engines started and warmed up. There’ll be different activities going on as far as people splitting logs with these old engines and grinding corn. Also, in the afternoon, at one o’clock, we have a little parade with the old tractors and cars and stuff like that around just around the midway there,” he added.

Regarding COVID-19 precautions, Duchscher said, “Everybody’s on their own as far as what their comfort feeling is.”

Duchscher said Hill County 4-H will be providing breakfast and lunch each day of the event.

4-H will be accepting free-will donations that will go to the 4-H Foundation.

Duchscher added that all vendors are provided a supper Friday and Saturday in the 4-H Chuckwagon in exchange for a free-will donation.

He added that it’s nice to have a feeling of normalcy by being able to put on the show, and he’s hoping to attract the interest of local youth.

“Any of these things that are going on should be drawing more people out just to get out of the house and get out of the yard and go see some people, neighbors that don’t live that far away but they haven’t had an opportunity to go visit with. So this would give everybody the opportunity. We’re looking forward to it and hopefully the community is looking forward to it,” Duchscher said.

For more information, people can visit https://www.facebook.com/NorthCenteralMontanaEverythingAntiqueShow .