HISTORY OF THE CLUB

The Rosholt Area Threshermen, Inc. was organized in summer of 1989 primarily as a result of a desire to gather together a group of like-minded people who wanted to play (read: show off) with their toys publicly and preserve, or to be more accurate, resurrect a way of life soon to be forgotten. Seven people attended an organizational meeting that summer to see if there would be enough interest to form a club that would take on the task of organizing an annual show that would showcase our interests. The initial attendance was not encouraging but we decided to forge ahead and try to solicit others to get involved. At about this time, Malcolm Rosholt, curator of the Rosholt Pioneer Museum, became very interested in acquiring an old sawmill to be permanently relocated at the Museum site. This would be a great project for the club that didn’t even exist yet! With the help of sawmill expert, Frederick Yenter and machine shop owner Craig Anderson, the task of dismantling and rebuilding the wreck of a mill began. Interest grew rapidly and there soon were about eight to ten people working long hard nights to meet a Labor Day deadline to have the mill operational in time for the Annual Rosholt Fair. It was a huge effort but we did saw logs at that fair! That was the event that caused the club to really take off! There are now over 80 names on the roster, many of which include families, and we are proud to claim quite a number of young members which should ensure a long and successful future for the club!

Working on the Reeves husk of the old sawmill L to R: Robert Yenter, Fred Yenter and Craig Anderson

Assembling the carriage track and husk at the Museum site
L to R: Robert Yenter, Myron Kurszewski and Fred Yenter

Every sawmill needs a roof and these are some of the people who worked the long hard hours to get the job done. Logs were donated by Ben Berna and were sawed on the “new” mill to provide the lumber for this structure.
Back L to R: Myron & John Kurszewski, Pete and Ronnie Rekowski
Front L to R: Craig Anderson, Roger Yenter, Verley Paulson, Fred Yenter, LaVerne Anderson and Alfred Rekowski