RUSHVILLE, Ind. — Rumely equipment will be the focus of two Indiana tractor and engine shows next month.

The 64th Pioneer Engineers Club reunion is Aug. 2-5 at Caldwell Pioneer Acres, three miles south of Rushville. A couple of weeks later, the 35th annual summer show of the Maumee Valley Antique Steam and Gas Assoc. (MVASGA) is Aug. 16-19 at the Jefferson Township Park east of New Haven.

The Rushville show will include the 2012 Rumely Products Collectors’ Expo. The show in New Haven will feature Rumely equipment such as Advance Rumely and Rumely Oil Pull.

The goal of both shows is to give visitors a glimpse into the past, organizers said. “They can see a threshing machine in operation and can see a corn sheller in operation,” said Brian Vaughn, president of the Pioneer Engineers Club. “In some cases, people have never seen raw grain. They can see where it comes from and how it was processed years ago.”

The reunion draws second, third and fourth generations of the same families, he noted. “Photos from the reunion’s early years show tractors and equipment that was brand new at the time,” he said. “Now they’re considered collectors’ items. We can show what the equipment was originally used for, which is important, as there are fewer and fewer people living on the farm.”

Organizers of the Rushville show expect more than 25 large steam engines and 100 tractors to be on display, plus a variety of gas engines. Last year, 6,000-7,000 people attended. Included in the displays will be an Allis-Chalmers original round baler from the 1940s-1950s.

Daily activities at the show include a parade, field events, threshing, baling and a horsepower test. The cost is $5 for all four days, with children under 12 free. For more details, see www.pioneer engineers.com and click on “about our reunion” at the bottom of the page.

Last year, about 5,000 people attended the four-day New Haven show, said Richard Walker, MVASGA president.

“The idea is to show the uniqueness of how we used to do the farming,” he said. “We want visitors to think about what people had to go through in that era to make a living and survive.”

The New Haven show will also feature AC, which purchased Advance Rumely in the 1930s, Ohio built gas engines and Buckeye Oil Engines. “Typically, our audience has been farm people,” Walker explained. “We’re trying to get the younger crowds to come out. They can see a sawmill run, wheat being threshed and how a blacksmith would have made tools. Our goal is education.”

Also included at the New Haven show will be a 125-hp Buckeye Oil Engine and displays of antique cars, trucks, steam and gas engines, tractors and garden tractors. Daily features include a tractor parade, threshing, sawing and plowing.

Tractor pulls are scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings. A quilt display and flea market are also planned. Cost is $5 a day, with children 12 and under free. Four-day passes are available. For more, visit www.maumeevalley.org and click on “2012 summer show” on the left.