Ste. Genevieve Rural Heritage Day 2015 – Corn Picking
October 24, 2015 at Ste. Genevieve, Mo., the Lions Club held their 7th Annual Rural Heritage Day. Mark Heberlie arrived with his IHC M tractor, with a two row mounted corn picker. Jerry Davis brought his Ford 4000 four-cylinder gas tractor with a one row Model 601 corn picker.
The corn they picked was deposited in wagons, and then was shelled at the Rural Heritage Day farm equipment demonstrations. The corn was unloaded into a large shelling machine, which would remove the corn kernels from the cob. Then the shelled corn was loaded into a trailer. The cobs were piled into another trailer. All of the equipment used was powered by vintage tractors. Several members of the Lost Acres Tractor Club participated and performed all the manual labor involved.
The Rural Heritage Day is held every fall in October. It includes a parade through town, demonstrations of corn picking, tractor plowing, horse and mule plowing, and hit and miss engines. Wagon rides through town pass by French homes built in the 1700’s, many of which are open for viewing tours.
In addition, there is a wide variety of fresh food, all made the old fashioned way. Some delicious homemade items for sampling and for sale include; apple cider, apple butter, ice cream, ham and beans with cornbread, kettle cooked beans and noodles, brats, and hot dogs. There are also demonstrations and items available for sale in soap making, blacksmithing, and whole hog processing.
Rural Heritage Day in Ste. Genevieve takes a walk back in time, and allows participants and visitors to experience and see the ways of the world from a previous era. ∆
