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stouffville suntribune thursday aug 14 2003 7 te m 3- 5 at jnrrlklli jw f j rm iva s 9mm v vv mgm- 11 roaming around with jim thomas there arent many legitimate farmers left in whitchurchstouffville there are of course pretenders to the trade the wannabe farmers who in recent years have moved into the area and established an estate operation on 10 or 15 acres however for some of these johnnycomelatelies the understanding of real work will never be realized then there are the retirees or former farmers whove never lost the skills of their trade but still on occasion enjoy being reminded of the good times they once knew friday afternoon was one such event an oldtime threshing bee on the property of harry and murray lewis on mccowan road south of stouffville i was there not in the role of a worker but an observer and so were many others ranging from the very young ixk the very old all with a desire for a moment at least to reverse the hands of time a halfcentury or more this event held at the discretion of the weather fore caster provides grist for the mill at both the markham museum and markham fair where country meets city each fall while most were con tent to watch the role players made it work including 94yearold earl appleton displaying the agility of someone half his age he rode a frost wood binder behind a super a farmall guided by gord lewis of roseville a step back in history was brought to the fore by blair purcell aboard a massey- harris binder hauled by a trio of beautiful belgians despitethe heat of a midydaysuh these heavyhaulers handled the task with ease v the twinebound sheaves were quickly handled by a contingent of willing volunteers including kevin smith scott redshaw blake purcell and wesley howe all nine years old it was an event theyll never forget the threshing machine found in grand valley and manufactured by lobsinger bros of mildmay was pow ered by a 1020 mccormackdeering this tractor piir- ichased new in 1937 by allah iwis sn came with flat steel wheels murray lewis vividly recalls the difficulties encoun- tered backing the machine up me- barn hill when the grade was the least bit slippery steel lugs were later added men rubber tires the freshing macliine was experti watsotf of- stouffville and les smith of blackwater although ra few bugs were encountered nothing was so serious it couldnt be fixed with a twist of a wrench all activities were recorded by video pros betty burkliblder and lorne smith while much of the interest centred around the cutting andthreshing of grain there were other things to see as well these included an international cutting box an international corn binder a frost wood hay mower and a wajkmg plow abandqnedfatfftlrgrounds the hay mower is a story oh its own it was abandoned on markhamjfairjgrpundsand later purchased by harry lesfbrllsbl it was in terrible shape brother gord recaus broken down and covered with rust today it looks like new while news of the bee was mostly wordofmouth the event has become a tradition people some from a dis- fance come to be a part and as it was in years past they brought their appetiteseven those who like myself were only specta- tors goodies such as pie cake and ice cream were avail- ablem abundance v its great that country folk can still get together said marion wells of lemohville witha few town infiltrators g mixed in s v- how long will this last in whitchurchstourfville even york region the years of the legitimate farmer are numbered but memories kept afresh by the fortitude of a few will continue to be renewed thanks to history in action jim thomas is a- stouffville resident who has written for area newspapers formore than 50 years ccxr theatres of uxbr1dge call 852rox y 7699 j for shows times n nroxvthwuriseum sale sunday aug 17 10am4pm herbs plants herb crafts food drink free demos free samples and more free admission 0 357 hwy 47 goodwood 9056406677 wwwrichterscom sikteh du cancer proiqncmltsa j free admission plenty of free parking 2 0 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