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- The Janesville Gazette, August 1958
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Funds sufficient to assure a good start on a building fund were realized over the weekend by the Fulton Congregational Church at its steam Thresheree, the first such ever event held in the Janesville area. Working Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon at the John Horton farm, men of the church threshed 17 acres of oats with two steam engine-powered threshing rigs while an estimated 6,800 persons looked on.
Also working on the farm were two steam-powered saw mills, turning logs from nearby farms into rough boards.
The church charged a $1 parking fee for cars as the only admission, and about 1,000 cars were parked on the farm over the entire weekend. All of them, however, "came loaded," those in charge of collecting the fees reported. In addition to the parking contributions, the lunch tent and pony rides for children brought in additional revenue.
A favorite spot was the cider mill, where fresh apples were converted into cider while buyers waited.
Reports on exactly how the event came out financially are expected to be ready when all committees in charge meet Wednesday night at the Wayne Nelson home.
While dozens of persons contributed to the success of the event, those in charge gave special mention to Howard and Harlan Wade, Whitewater, who brought a great deal of equipment to the farm, and to Louis Marsden, Edgerton contractor, who contributed the heavy hauling.
The idea of the Thresheree was born two years ago when threshing was done with steam engine power at the Horton farm. In an era when tractors power threshing outfits or combines thresh grain in the fields, the steam threshing of the 1956 grain crop there resulted in a small news note in the Janesville Gazette. Surprisingly, a large number of lookers visited the farm to see one of the old outfits at work once more. Horton, Nelson and Kenneth Sayre recalled this when the Fulton church began discussing fund-raising for a new Sunday school annex.
