Pioneer Power

A couple of weekends ago, Bob and Corky, Jay, and us started our day with a pancake breakfast at Pioneer Power by Le Center, MN. During the course of the day, I saw many ways in which power is created and used. We bought a piece of cedar board that now lays outside waiting for one of us to decide what we want it to become... a table I think, maybe a plant stand, who knows... I saw more old tractors in one place than I have ever seen collectively in my whole life.

The machine in front of Mike is making shoe laces by intertwining strands of cord - red goes in one direction and white in the other.

This fan is powered by a candle - heat.
People power and a loom combine to make a beautiful rug.

This old steam engine was poised and ready for work.
Gotta love the sign on the hay wagon.
Here a side rake and a hay loader are ready for use in the demonstrations.
This scene could have been in mom's day; my imagination wandered as I watched.

While boys may admire the engines on these tractors, I looked at the tires and remembered how hard my dad worked fixing these things when I was a kid.
Here is the volunteer as he sanded the board (that now sits outside waiting to become something) on a machine powered by steam.

It was an interesting day where I learned a few things and just plain had fun. If you are ever in the area when Pioneer Power is "open", it would be a worthwhile stop.