Chris Schmaltz and Chuck Heck want you to take a good look around your barn, garage or shed. Is there something you’d like to get rid of, maybe something another farmer might appreciate? Perhaps a hit and miss engine, a wheelbarrow, or maybe something larger, like a combine! If so, contact them, and the SE Indiana F.A.R.M Club will sell it for you next month. Schmaltz, director and past president of the club, said, “Just because it’s an old tool doesn’t mean it can’t be used.”


GARY FRANKLIN FILE PHOTO
Many come to the Southeast Indiana F.A.R.M. Club antique machinery and tractor show in late June. Proceeds from a new consignment auction will go toward improvements for the event at the fairgrounds in Osgood.


For the first time, the non-profit local organization is hosting a consignment auction for farm related items. Chuck Heck, president of the club, dubs it a “guys toy auction.” They don’t want household stuff, but outdoorsy, garden and farm goods. “Anything from a hand tool to a tractor and in-between. It can be 100 years old or brand new,” Heck said. Rob Vestal will lend his auctioneering skills to the event, which is slated for April 11, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Ripley County Fairgrounds in Osgood. “We did a spring swap years ago when we were in Dearborn County, and it was well attended. But since we moved the tractor show to Osgood we stopped doing it. But that’s what planted the seed,” Heck said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Proceeds will go toward improving the club’s very popular annual antique machinery show held the last weekend of June at the Osgood grounds. The organization has been hosting the show for many years. They started in Aurora and then went to Perfect North Slopes until moving to the Osgood fairgrounds, where they have been for the past seven years. “It’s a good central location, and everyone really likes it,” said Schmaltz, director of the club. There’s also a popular trading post, and evening tractor pulls that bring in lots of people.

History
The F.A.R.M. Club formed in the 1990s, with a group of area farmers from Dearborn, Switzerland, Ohio and Ripley counties. They have 300 to 400 members, those who are regulars at the farm machinery show. There are actually about 30 active members who help put on the show, a fundraiser that draws people from many states. “A lot of people think you have to be a farmer or own a tool to be a member or attend. You don’t. It’s for someone who likes preserving the past,” Schmaltz said. “We’re trying to reach the younger generation, the Boy Scouts and 4H. We hope to keep growing.”

F.A.R.M. Club is dedicated to the collection, exhibition, restoration and preservation of farming and antique-related equipment . The group aims to preserve not only the heritage associated with the farm but its equipment also. The antique farm show Last year they figured they had about 4500 people visit the grounds in two days This year the antique show will be held June 26-28 At the show you can expect to see tractors, steam engines, tractor games, kids pedal tractor pull, kid games, homemaker’s demonstrations, old-fashioned farm techniques, crafts, flea market, exhibits, and a parade through downtown Osgood.  And it’s all free “It’s a family friendly event, “ Heck emphasized. And, it’s a good way to see the past. Knowing the past helps us for the future.

Battle on TV
One of the big draws last year, and could be this year as well, is the Battle of the Bluegrass Pulling Series. NBC Sports filmed the competition at Osgood and aired three half hour shows in the fall. Heck said they are in negotiation to do so again, but it’s not confirmed. “NBC Sports ratings came in and the Osgood show came in with the highest rating ever in an NBC Sports pulling series. People like the look of the town, the crowd, the enthusiasm. It just went really well. We have a good chance they’ll be back,” Heck said.

Nonetheless, they are hosting two national collector clubs at the June show, which is also unusual and sure to add to the annual event. The BF Avery Club and Vintage Garden Tractor Club of America, both which boast hundreds of members, contacted the organization. “They go all over the country, but wanted to come to the little town of Osgood! It’s their big event,” Heck said. The garden club was here in 2009 and the board of directors said they wanted to return. It’s a win-win for the county. They’ll have lots to share in the way of farm related items, but will also bring hundreds of people, maybe more, who will seek local lodging, eat at the local restaurants, fill up their tanks, etc. “It boosts the economy. Ripley County Tourism Bureau loves it and has been very helpful,” Heck added.|

About the auction
Schmaltz and Heck feel the consignment auction also is good for both the club and the farmer. They can do a little spring cleaning, maybe find an item or two to sell that will put cash in their pocket, and help the club at the same time. Commission rates vary, starting at 15 percent for items $11 to $500 to 8 percent for higher price items over $2501. They will start accepting consignments immediately by phone or email. People are encouraged to submit photos to Heck or Schmaltz of items so they can be accepted. They do have a buyback fee of $25 per item. Items can be dropped off that week, Wednesday and Thursdays from 8 to 4 and Friday 8 to 8 p.m.

Contact Schmaltz at 812-654-3949 or Heck at 812-926-3654 for more information about the consignment auction or club.


Pick up this week's edition of the Osgood Journal for the stories below and more local news. Subscribe by clicking the subscribe link or call 812-689-6364.

• Another charged in Hershman case (front page)
• Board thanks Gay for service: Osgood replaces town attorney (front page)
• Supt. reports on school success at JCD (front page)
• Regatta race: longer route, back to three days (page 10)
• Details on the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday (page 12)
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