Steeles, Swedes and students

Charles Doty (right) explains to an attentive group of third-graders how corn is ground into flour Friday at the Harold and Margery Steele farm west of Dover. The students and a group of 24 Swedish visitors were able to see demonstrations of antique farm equipment and hear what farming was like in the early days of Bureau County. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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DOVER — You’re never too old, or too young, to learn.

That lesson was demonstrated once again Friday as a group of 24 Swedes and about 130 area third-graders returned to the past, thanks to Steele family and members of the Bureau Valley Antique Club.

Around 9 a.m. Friday, busses began pulling into Harold and Margery Steele’s farm west of Dover, a white touring bus in the midst of several familiar yellow school busses. They were there to view the Steeles’ collection of antique farm equipment and watch demonstrations of how things were done in the good old days.

The Swedes were there as part of an American tour led by Gun-Marie Swessar. Swessar, who leads guided tours in Sweden and does genealogical research, said she put the tour together at the request of several of the participants.

“Many have asked if I could set up a tour to go to all the Swedish spots of our varied interests,” Swessar said. “That’s why we’re here in the Midwest.”

The tour, which also included Swedish communities in Minnesota, Iowa and Chicago, also brought the group to Bishop Hill and Galva.

“The very interesting reason to be in Bishop Hill is from our area in Hälsingland, back in the early 1840s, that man Eric Jansson came,” Swessar said. “We say we are the cradle back in Sweden for the start of the mass emigration to the U.S. in 1846.”

Swessar said the tour participants were interested in old farm equipment and pioneer times, so she asked her husband’s cousin, Bill Bertrand of Aledo, for some advice.

“She called and asked if there was someplace where they could see some old farm equipment, and I got to calling around and somebody recommended Harold Steele,” Bertrand said. “I called him, and he was very gracious and very willing to open up his sheds to show us the equipment.”

Bertrand said the experience was expanded when Steele got the telephone call about the school children.

“He decided to put out some of the equipment on display and show it actually in operation,” he said.

The idea for the students to attend came from third-grade teacher Diane Nyman and former teacher Lynne Weber.

“I thought it would be nice for the kids to come out and see all the things they may have heard about,” Weber said. “So they could learn a little bit about their past.”

Weber conducted tours of the old farmhouse for both the Swedes and the students and said it went very well.

“I thought the children asked some really interesting questions,” she said. “They can’t imagine how their mom would spend all day cooking and washing clothes, and how that would take all day because their concept obviously is that their moms do other things.”

There wasn’t much direct interaction between the Swedes and the students, although the two groups often stood side by side watching the demonstrations, particularly when the horse climbed on the treadmill. But Weber said the Swedish visitors seemed to enjoy the children, especially watching them enjoying themselves.

“One particular lady from Sweden asked me about the children, what their ages were, and what they might be learning in their classrooms and how this applied,” Weber said. “They definitely were interested in them.”

By 11 a.m., all the demonstrations had been seen, and the antique equipment was admired. It was time to reboard the busses. Harold Steele’s face still glowed with excitement.

“That’s what this is all about, teaching children what farming used to be, producing food and processing food in the past,” he said. “To see the little children’s faces when they would see a horse or see a little machine work, or seeing flour come from a kernel of corn or a grain of rye.”

It was the first time there were two such different groups in attendance, and Steele thought the Swedes enjoyed it as much as he did.

“I believe they’re about as excited as I was with the little ones,” he said.

Swedish visitor Sverker Ungman said the whole tour was wonderful, with a lot of things to see and learn. Although the tour was coming to an end, Ungman said they weren’t ready to go home.

“They love it,” he said. “Good weather, a lot of things to see — we’re having a good time.”

So were the students. Michael Diipla and his classmates’ eyes were wide, trying to see everything.

When asked what he liked best, Diipla was temporarily stumped.

“The best I liked is the horses ... and everything!” he finally said with a big smile.

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