By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

DYERSVILLE, Iowa — This year’s Summer Farm Toy Show in Dyersville took place June 4-5. The summer show is more laid-back than the big National Farm Toy Show the first full weekend in November.

Like the national show, however, a big part of the summer show is at the gymnasium of the National Farm Toy Museum, which has thousands of toys and displays.

The museum features thousands of toys and exhibits between its two floors. Tractors, implements, trucks, miniature farm dioramas, toy manufacturing information and pedal tractors are on display. Also displayed are two Doug Schlesier sculptures, plaques honoring inductees into the National Farm Toy Hall of Fame and a plaque honoring the founders of Ertl Co., in Dyersville.

The museum is open year-round, but the summer show offers free admission. Each year, collectors stop by to see the yearly fundraiser for the show, a special toy model designed for the museum. The model for the 2010 show was a Minneapolis Moline U with a cultivator; this fall it will be a Case-O-Matic 730 with a hitch.

Visitors to the museum this summer may have seen the rearranged Ev Weber’s displays The Evolution of the Farm Tractor and Allendale County Fair.  Ev and his wife, Myra, of Lima, Ohio, were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001.

This summer was also coming to the windup of the exhibit Farmall Forever.  After the fall show, this International Harvester exhibit will be replaced by an AGCO exhibit.

During the summer show, visitors were able to see an array of farm toy model builders. One show favorite is Bud Wall, who creates wonderful brass models. Set up in the hall of Beckman High School, Wall had a variety of items to share.

Other vendors were set up inside the museum gym and the high school, and some were even set up outside and around on the grounds.

Tractors were also part of the show and the IH Collectors Iowa Chapter 5 had a big display set up. Many Farmall red tractors were on hand as well. There was also a great International truck that was an exhibit of its own; the utility truck and windows in it were used to highlight IH collectibles and memorabilia.

Dyersville was also filled with garage/toy sales. The garage sales were open before and after the main show had closed and offered the chance for visitors to extend their day and perhaps find just the item for which they were looking.

As with the fall show, downtown Dyersville was abuzz with activity, with the Evers Toy store open and visitors enjoying the opportunity to visit the St. Francis Xavier Basilica Catholic Church or the Dyer-Botsford Doll Museum.

Outside of town, there is always the amazing site where the 1989 Academy Award nominee “Field of Dreams” was filmed.

Along with the toys a new highlight this year was Breitbach’s Country Dining restaurant. Located on a bluff about 20 minutes east of Dyersville, the location offers an amazing view. It is the oldest continually operating restaurant and bar in the state of Iowa. Open in some capacity since Aug. 23, 1852, and owned by the Breitbach family it is at 563 Balltown Road in Balltown and is a great end-of-the-day destination.

Located just off U.S. Highway 20 (exit 294) and Iowa Highway 136, the museum is visible from Highway 20 and open every day from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission for adults is $5, but free during the National Farm Toy Show. The toll free number for the museum is 877-475-2727 and its e-mail is farmtoys@ dyersville.com