Day 1: Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion

The onset of July means only one thing at our house...

It's time for the

Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion

and our annual pilgrimage to Denton, North Carolina.

Well, after much packing and working, we made it to Denton!!

We usually like to get there a day before the show starts but we got here about 10:00 am the first day of the show!  Better late than never!!

We pulled in and there was our first friendly face Keith to get all our equipment registered and tagged.  While Hubby and the boys chatted with Keith and the girls at the back gate, I went to pay our camping fee.  Karen got us all taken care of and I went back down, got my arm bands from the girls manning the back gate and off to our camping spot we went!

The crowd wasn't too bad so we were able to get to our camping spot really easily.  When we got there Silas, Sheldon, and Tanner were looking for us!  As soon as Knox and Hamp got out, the boys were playing on the tractors just as if they had seen each other everyday.

Hubby and I greeted the neighbors, Ray, R.C., Kathy, Elaine, and Norman.  After all the hugs and laughs we started unpacking and setting up our abode for the week!  Of course Norman had to tell us after we got the tent staked down that we needed to move it a few inches up the hill, then a few inches down the hill...he can never make up his mind!

When we get set up its like we have never left!

Knox headed to the grist mill as soon as Silas, Sheldon, and Tanner left.  Mr. Johnson was waiting on him.  Knox spends most of his time in the grist mill helping and playing with Layton in the upstairs of the mill.

Friends are stopping by greeting us and catching up with what we've been up to this past year.

The pace is slower here...because its July and its too dare hot to get in a hurry!!

But our camp site is in the shade...and the fans are a welcomed relief from the heat.

As the sun starts getting low, Hubby and I put Hamp on the tractor and we ride around.  Hubby wants to check out the book and parts vendors that are here this week.  I want to see the antique and craft vendors throughout the park.

While we are making our way through the acres of tractors, we spot an interesting site...

The sign says..."First Riding Lawnmower".

It's a bicycle with the front wheel replaced with a pushing reel mower.  This is the type of things you find all over during the Threshers Reunion!  People show not only their American ingenuity, but their sense of humor!

Another thing you will see is demonstrations on how things were done in the "good old days"....

One of these is soap making.  This was usually done during a hog killing time.  The fat from the hog was cooked down, lye was added,...

 and soap was made...

These samples are free for you to take home but I decided to pass this time.

Just across from the soap making we noticed a young man starting an small engine.  The engine was to a Maytag washing machine.  This was a high class washing machine in its time but most of us would DIE if we had to use this type of washing today!

Remember there is NO spin cycle!  That's what the rollers are for...

While we were watching the young man wash, I heard an old man say, "And that's what we called the Good Ole Days!"  I guess it's all a matter of perspective...

As we settled down for the night, the sounds of engines thumbing and steam whistling were quieted by the sounds of the cicadas and crickets.  Day one of the Southeastern Old Threshers Reunion is in the history books....