Thresher Reunion 2024: Joe Hallahan continues to preserve his father's legacy
BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN
The job of a son of one of the founders of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association and its annual reunion is never done, as Joe Hallahan will tell you in the days leading up to the 63rd reunion this September.
Hallahan considers himself the unofficial groundsperson at the Blyth Campground for all things related to the Thresher Reunion and says that hardly a day goes by that there isn’t something to do, a request to field or a job to be done, whether it’s reunion season or not.
He says the association is always lending out its portable stage or providing tables and chairs for an event, but it’s all part of being a community-minded organization and its members are always wanting to lend a hand where and when they can.
Furthermore, as the son of one of the founding fathers of the reunion, Hallahan says there is a sense of responsibility and duty that he has to the reunion to keep it viable, strong and thriving for years to come. He thinks that process is already underway, as older members like him continue to volunteer and pass down the knowledge they’ve accrued over generations, but young people get involved and take an interest in the work of the association. That involvement from the younger generation, Hallahan says, has been really encouraging and it gives him a sense of tremendous optimism for the future of the reunion and the organization itself.
Hallahan’s time with the organization dates back to his much younger days, when he was just a teenager, pitching in when and where he could.
Hallahan is a long-time member of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association, but, as his last name indicates, he is directly linked to several of the association founders, one of whom was his father, Dan.
As a teenager when the first reunion was held, Hallahan has been attending the event since it started over 60 years ago. He said he remembers how different the grounds were back then and all the work the association has done since to improve the grounds to the condition they’re in today.
There used to be a race track that ran around the grounds – Hallahan anticipates it may have dated back to horse-racing days – and a large agricultural building before the association got its hands on the land.
In addition, there was a massive hill on the grounds that the association spent plenty of time and money eliminating in order to level out the land. That, Hallahan said, has been one of the association’s major projects over the years. Between the land improvement and the construction of a number of buildings on the land, the Threshers take great pride in what the Blyth campground has grown to become compared to what it was like when the association first took on the land as a project before it donated it to the Township of North Huron.
Going to those early reunions, Hallahan said he doesn’t remember much and certainly doesn’t remember working at those reunions, but simply taking in the atmosphere and revelling in the antique displays. He said he remembered it being fun even in those early years when he was a young man.
Not only does he believe in what the association does for the community and for children learning about the pioneer way of life, but he also feels he and many others have a familial legacy to maintain with the reunion.
Hallahan said that when your father starts something like the Thresher Reunion from the ground up, you want to do all you can to ensure that it succeeds for years to come.
“When it has that kind of history, it makes you want to take care of it,” he said.
In addition, Hallahan said that it’s the people who keep him coming back. While he loves his fellow association members whom he works alongside every year, he said that every reunion brings thousands of great people to Blyth and it’s a true joy getting to know them year after year.
Hallahan has never been the organization’s president, but he’s not sure that’s a charge he wants. He has, however, been a director a number of times and has been in charge of a number of crucial aspects of the reunion, such as camping, though he’s turned that job in now in exchange for working on the grounds.
Hallahan is uniquely qualified for both jobs, thanks to his long-time employment with North Huron’s Public Works Department. Although he is retired now, between his day job and his volunteer work with the Threshers, he was more familiar than most with the grounds.
As for the future of the association and the reunion, Hallahan says he feels as though it’s in safe hands. While the newer generation may have some ideas that sound a bit strange to the older members, it’s important to listen and change with the times, he said, if the reunion is to remain viable and relevant. However, as a group focused on the farm equipment, vehicles and practices of the past, retaining that historical aspect and telling those stories is crucial to what has made the reunion such a success over the years.
As he attends the reunion now in his later years, Hallahan says he is filled with a feeling of pride, not only seeing the organization and reunion grow and change and appeal to newcomers every year, but also in seeing all that the grounds are now capable of all these years later. After the association’s members helped to fill the land, clear some of it and make it a viable site, camping has become more popular, the Blyth Festival Harvest Stage has become a beautiful, outdoor venue for theatre and music and the Goderich-to-Guelph Rail Trail has turned into a massive tourism draw - all thanks, at least in part, to the hard work and dedication of the association Hallahan’s father co-founded all those years ago.