In this Aug. 29, 2015 file photo, a group of men work together to cut logs by a saw powered by an antique upright steam engine Saturday at the Cowlitz Prairie Grange Threshing Bee near Toledo.
Alex Palermo, 17, of Toledo, left, tosses a newly cut log to the ground at the Cowlitz Praire Grange Threshing Bee Saturday near Toledo. Alex and his grandpa, Ed Borte, center, cut logs with a saw powered by an antique upright steam engine.
Kids ride behind a tractor at the Cowlitz Prairie Grange Treshing Bee Saturday near Toledo.
Scott Newman, of Raymond, chops wood at the Cowlitz Prairie Grange Threshing Bee Saturday near Toledo.
Mike Boell, of Portland, center, talks with a man at the Cowlitz Prairie Grange Threshing Bee Saturday near Toledo. Boell brought some of his antique engines to the event.
People look at antique tractors at the Cowlitz Prairie Grange Threshing Bee Saturday near Toledo.
Fred Schulz, of Woodland, gets ready to back a 1906 steam-powered Case tractor off a trailer at the Cowlitz Prairie Grange Threshing Bee Saturday near Toledo.
John Borte, of Toledo, gets an antique upright steam engine ready for operation at the Cowlitz Prairie Grange Threshing Bee near Toledo on Saturday.
Over the weekend people drove a short way outside of Toledo, parked their cars and were transported back in time to when steam powered farm machinery.
At the Cowlitz Prairie Grange Threshing Bee, antique machinery hobbyists set up on a cut field and invited people to take a look at the way things used to work. Multiple exhibitors said they’ve noticed fewer and fewer young people interested in tractors, engines and equipment from yesteryears, but they think the hobby will live on in some capacity in years to come.
Mike Boell and Warren Scott, both of Portland, started up some of their engines, with wheels spinning belts in loops round and around again.
Scott was introduced to the engines by visiting similar shows and events as a child. Boell said he stumbled upon the engines, was fascinated by them and got involved in the hobby himself in the mid-1980s.
When he began his collection, he was the “youngin” who went to the “oldtimers” to learn first-hand about the engines.
“Now, I guess I’m the oldtimer,” he said.
His hobby is expensive. He thinks that, along with a lack of space, deters younger people from getting into it.
Not only does Boell collect steam and gas engines, he’s also got about 30 washing machines and some antique cars.
He said his focus is more on antiques in general with his collection being “a little bit of everything.”
“I think it’s important that everybody knows where we come from,” he said. “… It is getting to be a little bit of a lost art.”
That is why he tries to spark an interest in the machines in young people when he can by bringing his engines to schools. Down near Portland, he’s also involved with a group that puts on free antique classes that cover a variety of topics — from machining to electricity to welding.
Seventeen-year-old Alex Palermo, of Toledo, doesn’t need a class; he’s grown up around antique machinery. On Saturday, he cut wood on a saw powered by a 6-horse upright steam engine built in the late 1800s or early 1900s with his grandpa and his great uncle.
Palermo’s family actually helped to found the Threshing Bee 51 years ago.
He said he’s always come to help out with the event, and he has younger cousins who come to the Threshing Bee as well.
While he sees other kids he knows from school and the area out at the event, they’re mostly just there to look.
He knows not many youths are involved in the Threshing Bee like he is, but he thinks the event will be around in some capacity for years to come.
“I know it’s not going to go away, but it’s going to get smaller,” he said.
