It was cold and a bit rainy, but visitors to this year’s 35th Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Swap Meet in Minnesota could find almost anything they were looking for on the grounds.

Attendees were bundled up in attire more suited to winter than spring, with hoods up and those in golf carts often covered with a blanket or two as they cruised looking for that elusive item that they needed to take back home. The swap meet took place April 27-29.

Speaking of carts … many visitors pulled wagons or small shopping bags filled to the brim, and for the heavier things, youngsters with lawnmowers pulled carts behind them with various prices to haul items out to cars. Some had $4 and some had $5 – but everyone who offered the service seemed busy, so it appeared to be a successful entrepreneurial attempt!

For the really heavy items such as tires, there was a loader and the drivers carefully maneuvered between visitors, following a buyer out to their truck, van or trailer.

Improvements were made to the grounds over the past year. The club members added a church, double corncrib and granary. Although not yet open, the church was spectacular to see.

This event is a big deal in LeSueur County, bringing in around 1,000 vendors and 12,000 people in attendance. The Le Sueur County Pioneer Power Assoc. (LSCPPA) formed in 1977 and is an educational, nonprofit and tax-exempt organization incorporated under federal and Minnesota state laws.

The money made from the spring swap meet and the fall tractor show goes directly to the club for improvements of the grounds. The LSCPPA has more than 500 members and those wanting to join may want to attend a meeting. (The LSCPPA hosts monthly meetings at the American Legion Hall in Le Center, Minn., every fourth Thursday of a month.)

Although the swap meet is over, there is still plenty of time to plan to attend the fall power show scheduled for Aug. 24-26. This year’s featured brand is Massey combines, tractors and Wallis equipment.

On its website the LSCPPA shared a bit of history about this: “Massey-Harris evolved as a world leader in manufacturing farm machinery from an 1891 merger of the Massey Co., founded by Daniel Massey in 1847, and the A. Harris Co., founded by Alanson Harris in 1857. Massey entered the tractor business in 1917 by reselling the Big Bull tractor and in 1918 by building and selling the Parrett tractor.

“A successful tractor design was the Wallis, first sold in 1926, and then produced from 1928, after the purchase of the J.I. Case Plow Works. Beginning with the Wallis models, continuing on with the Massey-Harris tractors, and then the Massey-Ferguson line, Massey tractors are sold worldwide.

“Many people associate the Massey-Harris name with self-propelled combines. The M-H 20 of 1938 was the world’s first … The M-H Harvest Brigade of World War II revolutionized harvesting methods that spread throughout the world. Massey, from its early beginnings until today, also builds an extensive line of tillage, planting, harvesting and ag support implements.”

Many examples of the Massey family of tractors, combines and implements will be on display in August, including Wallis, Bull, Massey-Harris, Ferguson and Massey-Ferguson. Individuals from the local area, southern Minnesota and the Midwest will be bringing their equipment to the show.

The 2012 Power show also will welcome back The North Central Wheel Horse Events Club, which will exhibit members’ Wheel Horse lawn and garden tractors. Check the website at www.pio neerpowershow.com/swapmeet.html for details.

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.