butterfield

Welcome to ATS's BUTTERFIELD page, a
part of our site devoted to the Butterfield
Steam & Gas Engine show, also known as
the Butterfield Threshing Bee. If you have
any questions about the show that you
can't find here, or if your planning on going
and would like more details, contact the
webmaster, Ashley at
webmaster@antiquetractorsource.com and
please put in the subject line "Butterfield".

Please note that if you have any Butterfield
questions, Ashley is gone from the computer for
the whole month of August preparing for the
Bee weekend. Please make sure you get your
questions in at the latest by July 15th!
Thanks!

Many names are used for "threshing bee", such as steam and gas engine shows, farm fests, threshing bees,
bees, and more. If you want to share what you call a threshing bee, let us know and we'll add it here. We call
ours a "threshing bee".

WHY put on a threshing bee? To help others understand what our ancestors and old-time farming families
went through, what they did. A bunch of people get together to volunteer their time for eight months out of the
year planning the threshing bee, and volunteer their time and talents to the weekend of the threshing bee.

WHY GO? To show your children how you, grandparents, etc lived..or just to experience a new way of life.

For more facts on Butterfield and the Bee, keep reading...

Introduction to Butterfield, Minnesota

"125 miles SW of Twin Cities on Hwy 60"
or "60 miles N of Worthington on Hwy 60"

Butterfield is a "farming village" (small town, but village as Bryan calls it!) located in southern Minnesota about 15
minutes from Saint James, and about 3.5 hours SW from the Twin Cities. There are less than 1,000 people that
live in Butterfield as of the 2000 census. Buttefield has a gas station next to the highway, and in town there is a
small grocery store, hardware store, liqour store, bank, a restraunt/bar. The current mayor is Mayor Simenson,
and he's been mayor for approx 15 years or more. The town was founded in 1895.

Steve Langen is the current President of the Butterfield Thresherman's Association.

The BTA and the Threshing Bee started in 1966/67, with the Threshing Bee begining first. After the event which
caused over a thousand people to show up (and at that time, it was just a one-day show) the guys then decided
to form a committee to see about putting on a show annually. Almost fourty years later (in 2006), the show is still
going strong. The committee includes nine men who each are responsible for different areas of the show and the
grounds. Please click HERE (not yet linked, sorry) to see a history of the bee as told in the souviner paper that
the Observer/Advocate prints yearly for those attending the bee.

The grounds where the threshing bee is held was donated to Butterfield by A.R. Voss; which is why they have
called the grounds "Voss Park". Mr. Voss accumulated a lot of land during the depression, and him (and his
father, possibly) were surveyors for the train companies and Voss took his pay in land. The land donated
includes Butterfield Lake, adjacent to the park.

The site, campground, and show is proudly put together, taken care of, and staffed by
volunteers from Butterfield, the surrounding communities, and their family and friends. If
you feel, please tell them "thank you for the day!". We're always appreciative of knowing
that people are enjoying the show and the hard work the volunteers put in all year round!

For further information write: BTA, Box 209, Butterfield, MN 56120
CONTACT DAVE BUHLER 507-956-3981

(ONLY FROM MAY (after Memorial Day) TO AUGUST)
You can also write to Voss Park, Buttefield's campground, to get in touch with the campground manager, Joyce
Peek. She's been there since the begining - a wonderful lady - and she's always wiling to answer questions.

Write: Voss Park Campground; Butterfield, MN 56120
Call: (507) 956-2040

PLEASE NOTE THAT PRICES CAN CHANGE.
EVERYTHING ELSE PRETTY MUCH STAYS THE SAME.

NOTE: 2006 WILL BE THE 40th YEAR OF THE BEE!

Days:
(Please note: The Bee is held annually the third full weekend in August -
email Ashley for the dates of 2005)

Times: 9am-9pm Saturday; 10am-5pm Sunday (approx. times)

Admission: $6 for button which gets you in both days and also serves as a souvenir

Church: Yes - interdenominational church service at 9am in the park at the entertainment stage. Booths
and everything begin to open at 10am after church is over.
PLEASE NOTE PRICES AND OTHER INFO CAN CHANGE. THIS INFO WAS CURRENT FOR THE '04 SHOW

PLACES TO STAY

Campground Information:
Campground is "Voss Park" and it is adjacent to the Bee grounds.

Without Electricity: $9 (unlimited space)
With Electricity: $12 (Iimited hookups)
With Sewer hookup, add $1/2 (limited hookups)

Cash preferred, Checks taken, NO credit cards etc.

"Campground Jams" are after the bee closes, music in
campground from 10pm-midnight

Fill your camper with water, Voss Park does not provide.

*prices etc can change, please call the park to make sure*

HOTELS IN AREA
Super 8 St James Mn
507 375-4708

Super 8 Windom Mn
507 831-1120