December 8, 2013

View of the day-Not a great start to the harvest convention weekend, but we did stay ahead of the storm. This was on the #1 highway west of Moose Jaw, just after it had reopened.

What a hectic couple of weeks we have had! Marilyn was back at work, plus getting set up for the dinner theatre and getting ready for the Association of Canadian Custom Harvesters convention that was coming up. Al was getting everything organized for his big farm toy auction that is coming up in February in conjunction with the toy show.

After the performances on Nov. 22 & 23 in Yorkton, Al was good enough to empty out the cargo trailer for his toys so that the "damn theatre group" could use it for the road gig they had in Spy Hill, just over an hour away on Nov. 30. Those small town audiences are a real treat and that was the best performance to date.

The harvesters convention was in Lethbridge, AB, Dec. 4, 5 & 6 with registration starting on the night of the 3rd. There had been weather warnings that a severe blizzard was due to hit on Monday, so Al decided we should not take any chances and leave Sunday afternoon, right after we had gotten the cargo trailer unloaded back at the hall in town.

There really wasn't anything serious as we left Yorkton, but we had heard the #1 highway was closed for about 30 miles due to several semis that had been in a wreck...the freezing rain was the cause. By the time we hit that stretch of highway, we had about an hour wait, then crawled for several miles before we were able to open it up again.

There was thick fog along with the icy highways, so we couldn't really drop the hammer to make up the lost time. Fortunately, it cleared off by the time we got to Swift Current and the rest of the way was clear sailing. Perfect driving weather.

We got to Lethbridge, got registered and were settled in to wait for the storm...and to wait for Lynn and Gerry Prevost to show up with the setup for the convention. We didn't have to wait long for the weather...just after midnight it started snowing and blowing...HARD.

The next morning we looked out the window...what we could see from our window with the view of the roof...and the flags were straight out with the wind. Not fluttering, but looking like they were frozen stiff, the wind was blowing so hard. We did venture out to see what was happening and it wasn't good. Thank goodness for the 4x4 on the Dodge.

And not a good day to go combine shopping.

Lynn and Gerry managed to make it through the storm and got to relax after the chaos, while we just stayed in the room to watch Monday Night Football.

Tuesday, we had to make a run to Costco for a few things, so Al drove Marilyn, Lynn and Amy, one of the other ladies that had come with a trade show booth. We got our shopping done, then went back to the hotel to get the registration set up. Unfortunately, Lynn was getting a lot of calls from people who were cancelling out...not a good sign after all the setup that had gone into it. Attendees cancelling was one thing, but the presenters were cancelling too, so there was a scramble to fill a lot of the slots that were left open.

We had some good sessions from the big three and the swag was pretty nice...coins, hats and other stuff.

Here are a few of the snazzy items. It was neat watching the JD centrepieces getting made by one of the guys...he was getting the ribbon curling down to a science by the end of the jars. Someone made the comment that the grain in the bottom of the jar was from throwing over...it didn't matter, they were really neat. Too bad we didn't win the one on our table. It was looking good when they said the oldest at the table had to stand up, which was Marilyn, but then they added a couple of other moves and we were out. We might have to do that with a red one for the toy shows.

Thursday the ACCHI had our business meeting and there was a new executive elected. Lee Petersen, from L. Petersen Farms, moved up from Vice President to President and Shawn Thacker, from Thacker Harvesting, came back on the board as Vice President. Marilyn stayed on as Secretary-Treasurer.


The weather had cleared up and the city was working hard at getting the streets cleaned up, but the deep freeze had kicked in...which was good for the six huge pumpkin pies that were in storage on the back of the pickup. It is Celcius, but "feels like" -46º is cold in any language...although it does translate into -50.8ºF!

So we were down to the last night, and it was auction night...lots of treasures to behold. We had decided this year we were not going to get anything big...just do the silent and the bag auctions. That didn't last long.

It was nice to see the big three changing colors for the auction. Louis from CaseIH was having a hard time modeling the JD jacket, but with a little help, he got it on.

Mike from JD lost a wager and had to "model" the CaseIH flag during the auction and Louis was recalled to model the New Holland flag, which really wasn't that far from CaseIH. 

We were lucky to have Jim and Tracy Zeorian make it to the convention from Nebraska. Tracy is the Past President of the US Custom Harvesters, and is now the Office Manager for their association. They have made the last few conventions, so we were concerned if the weather was going to keep them away. They flew in to Calgary and Gerry drove through part of the storm to pick them up. One of the items they had brought for the auction was a certificate for a membership to the USCHI, two registrations for their annual convention in March and three nights accommodation.

Marilyn was working at the front with Lynn, keeping track of the bidders and their items. She was surprised when she found out that Al was the winner of the USCHI certificate. Now he had no excuse not to go this year.

When the big ticket item came up from Case, we had decided on an amount that we wouldn't go over, but we knew we would have to up it a bit, since everything else was going so high. This time it was Marilyn's turn to bid, which is never a good idea, since she won't lose an item because someone is "slightly" over her limit. She got what we wanted.

And isn't it a beauty? They put stickers of combine headlights and a feederhouse on the front and some fabulous art work on the sides. Of course, we don't golf, but Marilyn did get a lovely CaseIH golf bag a few years back at one of the other convention auctions and it should look pretty darn nice on the back.

Al wants to haul it to auctions, so that when they make him park a mile away from the site, he just has to unload the rig from the trailer and hit the auction.

Now we will both have something to drive in the parade...and it has cupholders!

We left Lethbridge around noon on Friday after finishing up a meeting with the sponsors, and started the 500 mile trip back. The roads had all been cleared, and it was four lane most of the way, so we made pretty good time, getting home around 11:30pm. 

Marilyn had another performance Saturday night, so she spent most of the day at the hall getting ready. Sunday was a super day off, just getting back into the "zone"...for Marilyn, work, for Al, maybe the same since he is going back to H&R before the year ends.

Even though we aren't in "harvest mode", Marilyn will still post occasionally...there are, after all, several toy shows coming up. 

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas with friends and family, and a prosperous new year.

Now we have to make room to park a golf cart...