By DEBORAH BEHRENDS
Illinois Correspondent

SYCAMORE, Ill. — Even with one day of rain, the four-day 55th annual Sycamore Steam Show and Threshing Bee saw record attendance of nearly 2,000 visitors every day.

The club actually got its start in 1954, when Chuck Raymond and LeRoy Levine bought a steam engine which was in the DeKalb Centennial Parade in 1956. This created interest among steam buffs who drew together and compiled a list of people they thought would be interested in forming a club.

They advised those people of a planned meeting for the middle of February, according to the club’s website. The first membership meeting was conducted on Feb. 16, 1957, at Halverson’s Implement Co. in DeKalb.

A motion picture, “When Steam Was King,” shown through the courtesy of the J.I. Case Co. and William Halverson, was enjoyed by the 150 people present.
Rupert Jordan and Raymond urged the formation of a club, in brief remarks. Jordan was elected chair and on a motion duly made and seconded, the name of Northern Illinois Steam Power Club was officially adopted. Dues were agreed to be $1 per year and 49 people registered for membership.

The board of directors conducted its first meeting one week later on Feb. 23, at the old Daily Chronicle newspaper office in DeKalb. Officers elected were: Jordan, president; Waite Embree, vice president; and Raymond, secretary-treasurer. A constitution and bylaws were approved, and these were amended several times with the most recent updates in October 1967. The board was increased from 10 to 14 in 1958 and from 14 to 20 in 1962. Election of 10 directors takes place at the September meeting and all members are entitled to vote.

In 1964, dues were increased to $1.50 per year. The year 2001 marked the 45th annual Threshing Bee for the Northern Illinois Steam Power Club. The first one was held at John Allen’s Corners in Hampshire, Ill. The club has four meetings each year.

The club gavel, made in the form of a steam whistle, was made by Floyd Newhall from a black walnut tree cut down in Jordan’s yard in 1958. The tree was planted in 1853 by Jordan’s great-grandfather. Newhall presented this to the club at the March meeting in 1958, and it is still used today.

Board members and a large number of volunteers continue to make the “Sycamore Show,” as it has come to be known, a friendly place among the shade trees to visit and exhibit. The big Vilter Tandem Compound Corliss Stationary Steam Engine and Ammonia Compressor is quite a sight and has been operational since 1999. Club members also are proud to have one of two remaining 1918 John Deere “Joe Dain” All-Wheel-Drive tractors. The machine was generously donated to the club.

The club’s newest large addition is a Steam Traction Engine built by the Illinois Thresher Co. in Sycamore, Ill. It is the first traction engine owned by the club, purchased in late 2003.

Membership is open to all. For more information, visit www.threshingbee.org or search for the Northern Illinois Steam Power Club to follow on Facebook.