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Puslinch Threshers Help St. Albert Group Beat Guinness World Record

As I contemplate the change of wardrobe to acclimatize myself to the cooler temperatures, I observe that there is a lot going on when the fall season begins.

Yesterday as I was on my way up to Collingwood in shorts I noticed that the temperature started to dip the more north we went. It caused me to assess what nature was doing at the same time. The leaves have been changing for awhile due to our unseasonable low night temps. It seemed to be no different the more north we got, except for the fact that there were thousands of more trees. It was like a shag carpet from the 70’s which by the way will most likely come back in style soon.

The fields of corn were still moving to the music of the wind but the wheat fields have been cut, much to the happiness of a few Canadian geese. It was looking at these vast stretches of cut fields that got me to thinking how different it is cutting these grains now compared to 100 years ago.

My interest was really peaked when I saw some information on Facebook about some people in St. Albert, Ontario wanting to beat a Guinness World record and at the same time raise money for breast cancer. Manitoba was the world record holder from 2016. There were 139 threshing machines working all at the same time to separate the grain for a solid 5 minutes. So the call was put out to all who had threshing machines to come for the day to help out with this event. And come they did! The record was successfully smashed by having a total of 243 machines going at the same time. A variety of power was used to make pulleys on the threshers move. Antique tractors were the most popular but steam and horse power were also used.

So I got to thinking, did anyone from Puslinch go to this event? Did anyone have pictures from long ago when this was the way to separate the grain in Puslinch?

As always I like to do my research locally and thankfully there are a vast array of locals who willingly shared with me their information. A big thank you to Gwen MacRobbie and Sue Bousefield!

By Margaret Hauwert

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There were many uses for horses in the past. Here is a picture with Robert (Bob) MacRobbie and baby Andrew pulling a load of manure. This picture was shot on the 1st concession lot 22 – near Crieff.

thresher

There were many uses for horses in the past. Here is a picture with Robert (Bob) MacRobbie and baby Andrew pulling a load of manure. This picture was shot on the 1st concession lot 22 – near Crieff.

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One of the many threshers on display and being used for the event of the day.

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Henry Deter and daughter Sarah enjoying the day in St. Albert, Ontario.