Mother Nature spoils attendance for first day of Farm Toy Show

Farmers are used to having their best laid plans interrupted by the quirks of Mother Nature, and so it was for this year’s exhibitors at the annual Farm Toy and Collectibles Show at the Clearspring Centre.

A late spring snow storm made for a slow day Friday, but most were more than happy with the crowd that showed up for the second day of the event.

Brent and Rachel Chubaty, who have been running the event for years, said in spite of the weather, many of the regulars were back and a few new ones were added.

There had been 120 tables booked, Chubaty said, but the phone started ringing off the hook as the weekend and the threat of a storm approached. Some of the regulars, especially those in that group of more senior collectors, cancelled because of the weather.

Moving forward the usual date of the annual Steinbach show also cut the number of exhibitors this year, as it created a conflict with a show in Grand Forks, and none of the usual American collectors came this year.

Most of the farm toy collectors and show organizers plan their schedule around traditional dates and any change creates conflicts. Chubaty hopes next year’s show can return to its traditional time later in April.

But the show was still a good one, and despite a slow start Friday, the mall manager and the exhibitors were happy with Saturday’s traffic at the mall, Chubaty said.

While the model train displays were not there this year, and cancellation by a collector from Gimli was disappointing, exhibitors from Altona to Beausejour braved the weather to do their part in creating another successful event that has been occupying the halls of the Steinbach mall annually for more than three decades.

Ron Pappel of Altona is one of the older collectors, who has been in Steinbach “many times”. His collection includes a lot of John Deere, but he says for 40 years he has been collecting a little bit of everything and the green machines shared space on his display table with a number of other popular brands.

The retired grain farmer, who used to grow canola and different varieties of bean, says he has been off the farm since 1996.

And just down the row, Abe Duff and Dean Kamstra were showing off everything Case at their display from Rocky Mountain Equipment.

The farm toys from the Case dealership, just a mile or so north of the mall, were part of the store’s collection. Rocky Mountain Equipment was asked by the toy show organizers to come out three years ago and have been at the show ever since. This year, it was the parts department’s turn to man the tables, Duff and Kamstra said.

Friday was slow because of the weather, but Saturday was really good, and there were lots of people stopping by, they said.

The display included some older tractors as well as the newest ones produced by Tomy, the toy manufacturer.

“Anything new available from ERTL or TOMY that’s Case is what we get for our store display.”

The toy manufacturer produces toys for all brands like John Deere, Case and New Holland, they explained.

It is interesting to note that in 1999, British toy company RC2 Corporation, now known as TOMY, took over ERTL. Although the company still operates out of Dyersville, Iowa, ERTL toys are manufactured (and collected) all over the world.

Chubaty says he is pleased to see a number of younger collectors taking an interest in the annual show, as most farm toy collectors, like him, are “getting on in years.”

A display that again attracted a lot of attention was the Friesen family from Winkler, who have created table upon table of intricate farm scenes.

The Friesen boys collect their own toys to add to the display and Ben and his boys, Christopher, Brendan, Dustin work together on creating buildings and farmyards for new and bigger displays.

At the other end of the mall, a father and son team from Beausejour display their collection of small and larger farm toys.

This is the third or fourth year at the show for grain farmers Ben and Alex Lloyd who have been collecting for five years. Ben says his son Alex is more into the smaller models, while his collection is mostly bigger items.

It was a poor day Friday due to the weather, but Saturday was better. They say they probably will be back next year.

Andy and Chris Kulczynski will not be waiting until next year to set up their display at the mall again. Chris said they do about four shows a year and were there on the weekend to help out the mall manager.

“Our parents were the real collectors and most of the collection on display is inherited.”

They do it as a hobby, and because they know the mall manager, they go to a few more shows here, they said. The next one, which they are helping to organize, is the Toys, Collectibles & Craft Show the last weekend in May.

Chubaty says he seriously curtailed his own display this year because the space in an empty store in the mall he was expecting to use was in the midst of renovations.

The mall did manage to create a small corner for him to set up a table for coffee and a small display, he said.

For a few years, Chubaty has been rotating his display, featuring Massey Ferguson toys one year and John Deere toys the next.

His plans were to feature Cockshutt this year, but that will have to wait for another year and another show.

Annual visitors to the show, who haven’t been able to convince Chubaty to part with pieces in his collection, which he considers close to his heart, can look forward to next year’s show.

Chubaty says the time may have come for him to start paring down his collection and most everything will be for sale. In the past, offers for any of his favorites were met with, “maybe next year.”

Wait and see.