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There’s change afoot at the Almelund Threshing Show grounds and one of the new undertakings involves the 1892 Sunrise Schoolhouse-Community Center.  Sunrise Township Supervisors agreed to transfer ownership of the structure to the non-profit threshing show board of directors.  The new township hall is slated to be ready for township government to occupy it, around the end of December 2024. 

Following a presentation from history preservation enthusiasts who spoke at the June town board meeting,  township officials agreed in July to allow the building to be sold for a nominal transactional amount  and be moved to the threshing show grounds; where it will join a host of rescued, functioning historic spaces like: a blacksmith shop, sawmill, log  buildings, a barber shop, the Pioneer Building, the old Clover Blossom one-room schoolhouse (which at one time served as Shafer Township Hall) plus, the historic wood frame Chisago County Courthouse, the old Sunrise Shell gas station and  more.

There are costs associated with picking up the Sunrise structure and moving it, and with cleaning up the empty lot, and also making sure the structure is secure and weather tight on the grounds.    Fundraising by the Almelund Threshing Show organization is underway.  The actual building relocation is tentatively planned for fall 2025, organizers told the township board. 

See QR code and fundraising meter graphic.

Meanwhile, the threshing show board of directors is also in the midst of constructing a new barn on the grounds.  The improvement is meant to facilitate demonstrations involving old-tyme animal breeds, their rearing practices and displaying artifacts of the food products industries they supported. 

Threshing show directors also are bringing horse-pulling events to the show, which is happening this weekend Aug. 9, 10 and 11. 

Those regulation tractor-pull contests are still slated to take place as usual, but the Midwest Farmers’ Association horse pulling group has added Almelund Threshing Show to its busy summer calendar. Saturday, August 10 at noon is when you’ll be sure to catch the horses. Double-check the website or Facebook for horsepulling event updates.

Tickets to the threshing show are $15 and kids 12 and under are free admission.  Parking is included on-site.  You can reserve a cart (in addition to admission fee) from a fleet of golf carts for help with mobility needs.

The show also sells a three-day admission ticket for $25.  

Grounds open at 7 a.m.  Food, beer and other refreshments are available and there is a giant flea market.  Tractor parades circle the grounds’ track daily.  Camp sites are also offered, see the threshing show website for availability.

 FYI.....

The annual threshing show caravan, when tractor enthusiasts parade along local back roads was held Sunday, August 4.  

Traditionally the caravan has traveled miles and miles of Chisago County roads— but lately the parade exits the show grounds on Hwy. 95 and makes a loop around the general area of Almelund and returns to the grounds.  Those tractors that are entered in the threshing show remained parked at the grounds.

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