Just a few words now, about my interest in history. Besides currently participating on this great FB page I have also been involved with Dakota County history for quite some time now. One of my hobbies of buying and restoring antique farm tractors and gas engines resulted in exhibiting them at the Dakota County Fair in Farmington, as well as many other places around the Midwest. What I discovered there was The Dakota City Heritage Village and also the Dakota County Historical Museum in Alberg Hall on the fairgrounds. Since then, I have gotten involved as a volunteer for The Dakota City Machinery Men. We are a group of retired guys, mostly older than me, who get together each Tuesday at the museum. We fix, repair ,restore, & rebuild about 25 antique farm tractors that have been donated to the museum by various Dakota County farm families. These tractors get exhibited and paraded daily each year during the fair and are enjoyed by all, but especially the families who donated the tractrors. Its a pretty special thing for the young people to see their grandfathers and great grandfathers tractors being driven in the parade. For me, history doesnt get any better than that. Besides being one of the Machinery Men, Im also a member of Dakota City Heritage village where I can be found pulling trolleys with vintage farm tractors for the various guided tours that are presented several times a week during the summer months. I am also a member of the Dakota County Agricultural Society which is the governing body of the entire fair operation. Up until a recent illness dictated that I resign, I was also on the Board of Directors for Dakota City Heritage Village. Being involved with all of that has been an extremely rewarding experience for me and I feel very privileged to be an outsider and a city guy who received the approval of the majority of people there who mostly have agricultural backgrounds. I was also asked to be on the Collections Committee at The Dakota County Historical Museum. Our responsibilities include assessing the many artifacts that get donated and then to decide how or if they will be displayed or dispersed. Just wanted to give a little background, seeing as I have been doing all these posts lately. I know that I have been posting a lot of information on here lately and I want to make certain to everyone that I do not in any way consider myself an expert on South Saint Paul history. Lois Glewwe is the only expert on SSP history that I know of. She put in an untold number of hours, months and years in preparation for the Centennial Book that she authored. Im just a guy with a good memory who lived some of the more recent history of South Saint Paul and lucky enough to be able to share it with all the other folks who are interested in it , Thanks Jim Servatius PS. More memories coming soon!
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 19:07:35 +0000
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