When Melinda Huisinga attended the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion for the first time, she was not yet a year old. But something clearly clicked, because with the exception of the year when she was just days away from giving birth to her daughter, she hasn’t missed a reunion since.
For more than seven decades, Melinda has been both a tireless volunteer and an unofficial ambassador for the reunion. Working with family members, she fires up her 65hp Case steam engine every day during the annual event, starting early, ending late. She helps out at the show’s steam-powered carousel and answers visitors’ questions. She pitches in at her church’s food stand; sometimes she’s involved in the steam engine spark show. “I sleep well at night,” she admits.
She doesn’t limit her volunteer involvement to the week of the show. Melinda is
