THRASHING ON THE FARM
   By Mary Anderson-Boyd

Jim Anderson standing on the "seperator"

18 year old Mary Anderson-Boyd standing by the John Deere Tractor

One fall, I had to help with the thrashing for quite a few of our neighbors, as my Dad Jim A. Anderson, was working at the saw mill, for a cousin of mine named Andy Wright.  We were thrashing for Mr. Hilton  on his farm near Crane and it was getting about lunch time.  My brother Howard Anderson and his wife Lena and I, prayed that we would get through before lunch time because, we didn't think, that we would know how, to be nice enough, to eat with the Hiltons.  Needless to say, we had to eat lunch.  I almost passed out when Mr. Hilton said, "Son, throw me a biscuit."  After that, everything was OK.  When it was time to move the machinery to another farm North of Crane on HWY 13, I had to drive the tractor ,which was pulling the other machinery, through Crane.  They were having a parade on Main Street there and everybody thought, I was in the parade, even though ,I didn't go down Main Street.  Besides thrashing,  I had to help my Dad do a lot of work on the farm.  Some of the things I did was to overhaul cars and tractors and saw wood, but that taught me a lot and now, all the cars and tractors are different and I wouldn't know what to do.