GEORGETOWN, Ohio – The rolling hills of Brown County are home to the annual Ohio Valley Antique Machinery (OVAM) Show. This event, now in its 56th year, celebrates the craftsmanship and history of antique machinery.

Brian Klein is the club’s secretary and one of 18 on OVAM’s board of directors. Klein has been at his post the past 10 years, and he said the collectors of these loud, hot steam relics are not a dying breed.

“Yes, younger people are getting involved with this antique machinery,” Klein said. “At each show we hold a parade on the grounds and at near the end of the parade you’ll see numerous young people on garden tractors. Most of these kids found out their garden tractors once belonged to their grandfather, and they’ll fix it up and bring it to the show. This is our group’s steppingstone and next generation of machine owner and operators. After they get a taste of the smaller tractor the next step is getting into the larger tractors.”

Klein’s nephew, Jake Ferrell, once owned and drove his grandfather’s garden tractor, eventually moving on to take over ownership of his grandfather’s 1941 Farmall-A tractor. It’s the same tractor that his grandfather drove to school.

“It’s addictive in a way, and contagious,” Klein said. “These young people see these older contraptions and say, ‘hey, I want one of those’ and that’s how this club has been growing. It’s been growing ever since.”

OVAM got its start in 1970 when four men from the Georgetown area got together one evening to form an antique machinery club. A month later, the four converged again, this time with the goal of recruiting other interested antique machine collectors. In subsequent meetings, the group grew and a name was chosen and officers were appointed. The group finally met with three members of the Brown County Fair Board to discuss dates and arrangements for using the fairgrounds as their venue.

Articles of Incorporation were filed with the state of Ohio and granted on March 13, 1971, thereby establishing the Ohio Valley Antique Machinery Inc. The show, once held at the Brown County Fairgrounds, was eventually moved to its present location, just off state Route 125 near Georgetown.

The ultimate objective of the club was to revive and spread nostalgic interest in the steam engine.

“I remember sitting on my dad’s lap during one of the parades here at the show, riding one of his old tractors,” Klein said. “The older I got the more I wanted to be a part of this hobby of collecting old machinery. Similarly, we are getting younger people involved in this. It’s not a niche hobby, rather it’s something you grew up around and wanted to continue with.”

Klein now has seven tractors and had two of them on display at the OVAM show. Ferrell was showing one of his and had two more back home.

“Anybody who has more than two needs to have their head examined because it means bigger space, bigger trucks,” Klein said. “It’s like the potato chip Pringles, you can’t eat just one and with tractors you can’t have just one.

“This can be an expensive hobby. It’s just like having an antique car. You might have a rare tractor, but then you’ve gotta find spare parts for it or have that part fabricated. None of those large engine parts are in existence these days.”

Most attendees were able to get close to the century-old steam engines and tractors. There were nearly 600 registered steam engines, tractors and hit-and-miss engines on the grounds this year.

There were numerous makes and models of steam engines, like an 1882 10 HP Harrison steam engine, a 1921 15 HP Style K Farquhar, Case boilers and several Advance-Rumelys. The latter were made in LaPorte, Ind. The company began in 1853 and manufactured threshers before making steam engines. Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Co. purchased Advance-Rumely in 1931.

Some steam engines on the 200-acre plot were put to the test, some used to saw lumber, some to steam corn, others to provide the power to make cement blocks. Most, however, operated in idle. Most of the owners present just wanted to display their coveted machine.

There were plowing demonstrations, a rock crushing demo, concrete block making, a veneer mill, old fashion spark shows, hit-and-miss engines, antique tractor pulls and an event-ending parade showcasing engines through the years.