   - [Voiceover] Since 1954,
  giant iron machines
  have been roaring
   back to life each
   Labor Day weekend
 in Rollag, Minnesota.
The Western Minnesota
Steam Threshers Reunion
attracts thousands of
visitors each year with
   it's 210 acres of exhibits
   and demonstrations.
  Enjoy a glimpse of the
  sights and sounds of Rollag.
   - Ok, hello folks,
   and welcome to
   the 61st Western Minnesota
   Steam Threshers Reunion
(machines whirr)
- This is our 61st show.
  It was started by a
  couple of families
 they just got together
 on the weekend
  to thresh some grain
  with a steam engine,
and 61 years later here we are.
   (bluegrass music)
  - So when you first
  come into Rollag,
   you're going to
   be driving up and
you're going to see
kind of a cloud of smoke
   and it's just kind
   of a good ambiance
 for what you're
 getting yourself into.
You're gonna smell the
coal and sawmills going.
  You're gonna hear
  the wood being cut.
 (saw cutting)
 - [Harvey] Nobody has
 a show like Rollag.
  There's something
  here for everybody.
 If you're a railroad
 buff, there's trains.
   If you're a tractor buff,
   big farming background,
there's a lot of
different tractors that
most people have never heard of.
 (steam engine sounds)
 - [Merlyn] I tell ya,
 you can't describe it.
You gotta see it to believe it.
  (laughs) cause there
  is so much to do
and so many things, it's
never the same thing
  There's always somebody
  comes up with something new.
- I'll say it's the best bargain
in America coming to this show.
   Just all kinds of action.
 Well, we got a couple
 of steam shovels
 running down there right now.
  Just mainly putting
  on demonstrations
 how they did it years ago when
   they really did
   do work with them.
All we're doing is playing here
like big kids in
the big sandbox.
You know, but that's
what we're trying to do.
  Lots of little kids
  really like it.
   You've never seen
   nothing like this.
This is the only place
in the world you can see
   four steam shovels
   working at the same time.
(engine whirrs)
 - Running the engine,
 there is something
that's so simple
as you take wood
 and you build a fire,
 and you boil water
to make steam, and you
get the power out of it.
 It takes a lot of
 maintenance, a lot of oiling.
   We're going to be belting
up at 9 o'clock in the morning.
  We're on the engine
  probably 6:30.
   We're constantly
   watching our water
   and then keeping the
   fire, keeping pressure up.
So we keep the power for
the threshing machine.
 I think the importance
 is people seeing
  how we got to
  where we are today.
This is what started it.
 This is how you originally got
  the wheat to make the bread.
And that's what I think
is what's important.
It's keeping the history alive.
 ♪ Calling you
   ♪ If you follow in
   his light, he will
 ♪ Always guide you
 right, can't you hear
  ♪ The blessed
  savior calling you ♪
 - I'm fourth generation, so my
  great grandpa was
  out here, I believe
   at the first show,
   and my grandpa,
and my dad, and now me.
 You know when I was younger it
   was just a time
   for me and my dad
   to spend time together
   and that was always great.
   That really hooked
   me from the start.
   You know, you get
   up in the morning,
 smell of smoke coming
 out of the engines.
 That gets to me and, you know,
 you just learn how much harder
 things were when they
 had to do it this way.
 We do it for fun, but to think
  having to do this from
  sunrise to sunset everyday,
  That would take a
  toll on you, I know.
I expect to be coming
out here my whole life.
If that means I'm rolling around
  in an electric
  wheelchair, I guess
  thats what I'll do.
 But, the sights, the
 smells, can't beat it.
 (engine roars)
- [Boyd] Well it's
always an exciting time,
   for a kid to ride a train.
The train here in Rollag, is to
provide an experience for people
 to ride on the train,
 free, without charge,
  as many times as they want.
   A lot of people
   have never ridden
  on a train before,
  especially the little kids.
 They like it, they
 really love the train.
   - The engine, the
   family atmosphere
  it's really a group
  puts this together
  and it takes an army
  to keep it going.
   - There's a good community
   of people out here
and that's the heart of things.
 the machinery and the
 equipment is fantastic
fun, good to work
with, but the community
  of people is what makes it.
   - I think watching
   people in their enjoyment
 and watching it being
 run and teaching
  those who want to
  be up on the engines
 or, just learning about stuff,
it just, it really kind of fuels
   the fire to keep it going.
   (bluegrass music)
  - [Chuck] I help out
  at the print shop,
   Pioneer Press for
   the last 15 years.
   We, gather the
   dues, and then put
 it together and then print the
   newspaper for the weekend.
We try to get younger people to
  come in and work with us, to
   keep the tradition going.
Well it's preserving history and
  that's what you have to do.
(machine whirrs)
   - I'm a huge history geek.
 I love learning about
 the history of America
   and how we got to
   where we are today
 and farming is a huge,
 huge part of that.
  This is one of the
  largest steam shows
 in the entire country.
   People come from
   all over the world
just to see it.
   - It is a reunion.
  Most of us, you
  see, we got friends
 that we only see three
 or four days a year.
 And that's it.
   - It's definitely
   a labor of love.
It's a piece of history.
  The equipment that
  you see around here
 is what helped construct a lot
 of our infrastructure.
 - It's a great place,
  it's a great group
  of over 5000 members
and it just shows what hard work
 and dedication can do.
 (bell clangs)
 - That's what makes it
 special right there.
  You see it, you can hear it.
  When the steam
  engines are running
 you can feel it in your chest.
  So it's a real
  multi sensory thing,
   you don't get that
   anywhere else.
  I've been to museums
  where they've
  had a static display
  of a steam engine.
It just, it's lifeless.
 Rollag's full of life.
(whistle blows)
- [Voiceover] Prairie
Mosaic is funded by the
 Minnesota Arts and
 Cultural Heritage Fund
 with money from the
 vote of the people of
 Minnesota on November
 fourth, 2008.
  The North Dakota
  Council on the Arts,
   and by the members
   of Prairie Public.
