By Sheldon Spackman

Sunnybrook Farm and Museum celebrates 30 years with Pioneer Days Festival

Aug 18, 2018 | 4:54 PM

Thousands of Red Deerians are enjoying an up close look at some antique tractors and other rare farming equipment during the Pioneer Days Festival underway at Sunnybrook Farm and Museum this weekend.

The two-day event which runs from 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on August 18 and 19 is celebrating the farm’s 30th anniversary this year and 23rd annual Pioneer Days Festival.

Executive Director Ian Warwick says Sunnybrook Farm was established in 1988 when Norman and Iva Bower donated the land in which it sits to the people of Red Deer.

“We’re celebrating turn-of-the-century farming and rural life,” explains Warwick. “This is all of our volunteers coming together and having a celebratory weekend that’s great for the family and great for old timers to remember the kind of equipment they were using as kids and on their grandparents farm and themselves even sometimes. It’s just a wonderful way to celebrate the past and see some of the tractor pulls, they’ve got antique tractors here from all different eras.”

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He says the festival has some special features this year.

“Reynolds Alberta Museum brought in two of their amazing steam traction engines,” adds Warwick. “The Rumely steam engine and the 1906 International gasoline tractor, so James Bower was one of the first to run a gasoline tractor and it was purchased here in Red Deer in 1907, so this is the kind of sister to that tractor that James Bower had here. They’re two unique features for people to see.”

Randy Kvill, Curator of Agriculture and Industry Collections at Reynolds Alberta Museum says the 1914 Rumley tractor is one-of-a-kind.

“It’s a 12 horse power International Harvester Company gasoline traction engine,” he explains. “It’s the only one known to exist. There is one 10 horse power that exists and a handful of the 15 and 20 horse power ones that exist as well.”

He says it has some unique features about it.

“A hit and miss engine,” says Kvill. “It only fires when it needs to get enough speed in the fly wheels to make it do what it has to do, whether it’s moving across the ground or running a belt. The other thing that’s a unique feature about it, it’s friction drive, it doesn’t have gears between the engine and the rear wheels, it has a friction drive the drives the differential.”

Warwick concludes it’s a great event that people of all ages can enjoy and appreciate.

“We have a beautiful 10 acre site here that’s been maintained by an enormous group of volunteers,” states Warwick. “Eighty five volunteers that give 10,000 hours a year to maintain the grounds and the buildings that are here and just a wonderful weekend and time to spend here.”

In addition to a Minneapolis-Moline feature exhibition, visitors can also expect the Pioneer Days Festival to feature antique tractor pull competitions, a pancake breakfast, silent auction, tractor parade and antique toy display.

The festival will also include a live farm animal exhibition, pioneer homesteading, threshing and field demonstrations, cowboy church service, home-made cookie walk, food concession, live music, face painting, bouncy castle, barrel train rides and other kid’s activities.

Admission is $5 per person or $15 per family. Additional food charges apply at the food concession.

Parking is available at the Academy of Learning parking lot immediately west of Sunnybrook Farm.