30th annual Holmes County Steam & Engine Show
Steam engines, antique tractors, threshing machines and more will soon be rolling into Mt. Hope for the 30th annual Holmes County Steam & Engine Show! “This may be our biggest show yet,” suggests HCSEA President Melvin Wengerd. He adds, “the $10,000 purse featured for our Thursday evening horse pull is the largest in the state and always attracts some of the greatest pulling teams around. A big thank you to Kaufman Realty/JR Miller for their sponsorship.”
The 30th annual, three-day event will be held on the Mt. Hope Auction Grounds/Holmes County Event Center, in Mt. Hope, Ohio. Dates are Thursday, August 4th, Friday, August 5th and Saturday, August 6th.Highlights include Thursday’s horse pull, Friday’s tractor pull and Saturday’s garden tractor & mini rod pull. Visitors won’t want to miss threshing & sawmill demonstrations, tractor games and Saturday’s finale drawing for the pedal tractor. And the kids aren’t left out either, as the event offers daily activities including a pedal tractor pull, a money scramble and arts & crafts workshops.
Each year features a brand and make of tractor, with 2022 the year of John Deere. Next year highlights Minneapolis Moline. According to Wengerd, one of the newest events, the tractor tour of Holmes County, has quickly become a favorite. “Our first tour had about 30 tractors. We expect that to double this year.” To complete the 90-minute tour on schedule, tractors must be able to travel at 10 MPH. “This year’s tour will head south and east of Mt. Hope, some truly beautiful back roads to discover,” Wengerd adds.
Board Member and Treasurer Roy Miller reminds visitors to “join us for live entertainment both Thursday and Friday evenings at 5PM.” HCSEA regularly invites local bands to excite the crowd going into the evening events. Miller continues, “Friday’s Steam Engine Spark Show at dusk is a must see. It’s better than fireworks and never disappoints!” The Holmes County Steam & Engine Association held it’s first annual summer show in 1993 at an Amish Farm near Berlin, Ohio. From an early membership of eighty members, the association has now grown to over four hundred members and boasts over 12,000 paid admissions at our most recent show.
The event closes at 5PM on Saturday.