Thresher Reunion 2024: Jim Sloan to call his final Thresher parade this year

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

At this year’s reunion of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association in Blyth, Jim Sloan, former association president and a man who was at the very first reunion almost 65 years ago, will call his final parade for the reunion.

 

Sloan was the president of the organization from 1990 to 1991. He and his wife Judy would go on to be just the third husband-and-wife duo to serve as presidents of the organization. The two have been very active within the organization for decades, serving in various capacities and holding many positions over the years. Judy, for example, led the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic, holding the president’s office for a longer-than-usual term so she could oversee a proper, traditional Thresher Reunion after years of cancellations and truncated events meant to still engage audiences, while adhering to the public health regulations of the day.

 

Jim attended the first Blyth reunion when he was just 17 years old, attending with his uncle and aunt and Stuart Muir, who was a friend of the Sloan family. Muir was there to show a Sawyer Massey steam engine and the rest tagged along.

 

In the 50th anniversary heritage book, created by the association to mark the occasion, Sloan remembered there being about five or six steam engines at the first-ever reunion in Blyth. And since that very first show, Sloan says he’s only missed a handful, easily attending over 50 of them over the years, missing a few due to the harvest in his farming years.

 

He also reminisced in the book that, during his time as president, that was when camping was really expanding at the reunion. Nearly 500 people camped at the reunion the year that he was president, which represented a dramatic increase from the camping numbers from those early years.

 

He also remembered from those early years that it was just a one-day show back then with no parades allowed on Sundays for religious reasons. He said the churches had so much power then that they could dictate whether things should take place on Sundays or not and the reunion was a one-day event back then as a result.

 

Without a doubt, one of his favourite aspects of the reunions over the years has been the daily parades that take place in the late afternoon each day. They are a must-see attraction for attendees, as they bring together many of the antiques - whether it be tractors, cars, steam engines or something else - and bring them to the people, all in one place, complete with someone to announce the details to them.

 

Jim has been announcing for the parade for more than 10 years. That means his is the voice that you hear over the sound system as the parade goes on, telling them the make, model and year, as well as owner, of the tractor, steam engine or car making its way through the parade route in front of you.

 

It wasn’t always this way, of course. Sloan helped a man named Ross Calder with the parade for many years as the runner. He was the person who would run out to the vehicle or piece of machinery, snag the information card from the owner and run it back to Calder so he could read it out to the masses. Then, he would run the card back, grab the next card and repeat the process dozens of times until the parade reached its natural end.

 

Then, when Calder was ready to pass the torch, Jim was there to take it and run and he has announced the reunion parades - held each day at 4 p.m. - ever since. And now, as Jim approaches turning 80 this November, he’s ready to pass the torch once again. To whom remains to be determined, but he will be stepping aside for the 2025 reunion, though he still plans on remaining part of the association and attending the reunions for as long as he can.

 

Jim began attending the reunions because he has always had an interest in antiques and the farm equipment of his youth. And, since he has been attending the reunion, there have been plenty of changes. Camping, for example, was really informal and borderline non-existent in those early days. If someone wanted to stay over, they would erect a small tent and spend the night. That was about the extent of the camping in the early years of the reunion. 

 

Where he’s seen some of the greatest changes, however, is at the sawmill. He has seen it improved and made safer over the years and that is where he has historically spent much of his time at the reunions over the years.

 

He’s pleased to see how far the reunion has come in recent years and says he’ll miss announcing the parade, but is looking forward to experiencing it from the stands for the first time in many years.