MAKOTI (AP) - Makoti Threshers Inc. got its start in 1961, when Clarence Schenfisch put 13 classic tractors he restored on display for the town's 50th Anniversary Celebration. Nearly 50 years later, his family is keeping the tradition alive.

Monty Schenfisch, the nephew of Clarence Schenfisch, is working on the very same tractors his uncle restored all those years ago. The Schenfisch collection numbers around 15 tractors now, and Monty Schenfisch spends the week before each fall threshing show making sure they are in good running order for the parade. Many are close to 100 years old.

"The show brings back memories for the older people who come to see it, and it shows the young people what it used to be like," Schenfisch said.

Those memories for Schenfisch include attending that 1961 celebration as a 7-year-old boy. Though he wasn't yet old enough to work on the mechanical monsters whose weight can be measured in tons, he was old enough to drive them. Or a smaller version of them, at least.

A miniature steam tractor was brought in for the celebration and Schenfisch was given the task of helping to run it. From that point on, he has been involved in one way or another with the threshing show.

He doesn't collect any tractors of his own, but the mechanical experience he gained as a farmer has helped Schenfisch keep his uncle's collection going after all these years. With more than 300 models in operating condition, Schenfisch is just one person in a large army of volunteers who literally come from all over the country to keep the threshing show running year after year.

Of the tractors in his uncle's collection, Schenfisch has two that he particularly likes. One is a 1913 Pioneer Model 30-60, the rarest in the collection and the same type that his grandfather used to own. Historian Leroy Quandt said only 14 tractors of that Pioneer model are left in the world.

The other is a 1916 Model E Rumley Oil Pull, which is special to Schenfisch because a close friend of his used to run the tractor in the parade before his death. Now the friend's son runs the tractor in his father's place. As the name hints, oil rather than water is used to keep the engine cool.

For those curious about the rarest item in the threshing association's collection, Quandt knows the answer off the top of his head.

"There's a Colean Steam Engine, and I just got a magazine today that said there was five that are known (to exist)," Quandt said.

Makoti's Pioneer Village shows what life was like back when the steel behemoths busted sod close to 100 years ago, and there is also the actual threshing show, which provides spectators a glimpse at how farmers had to harvest wheat before the invention of the combine.

Schenfisch said his favorite part of the threshing is getting together with a group of friends and stacking the shocks of wheat on trailers.

"You actually get to see how they did it with the old tractors and steamers and separators," Schenfisch said.

The show may put a spotlight on the past, but that doesn't stop the organizers from thinking about the future. Schenfisch said they try to improve the show in some way every year.

This year, the sawmill was improved. A new concrete foundation was poured underneath the mill and doors were placed on all the openings so the interior of the building would be more protected from the elements while still allowing people to see inside. For next year, a pumpkin growing contest is being planned.

"They say they'll get as big as 1,500 pounds, and some of the guys around here have gotten them up over 200 pounds," Schenfisch said.

Even after the show is over and the machinery is put back into storage for another year, people who are interested in looking at it can stop by Makoti and get a tour.

Just call any business in town and someone will be able to set up a tour, Schenfisch said. There is no cost to tour the machinery, but freewill donations are accepted.

Schenfisch said volunteers from as far away as Alaska and New York have helped to keep the show going for so long.

"People come out of the woodwork the week before and the last few days and during the show," Schenfisch said. "Volunteers come from all over the United States, actually, a long ways away to help."