“We have not missed a year since and neither has our daughter,” Kathryn says. “Our son came along four years later, and I don’t think he’s missed a year either. It is a family affair. We have four campsites.”

Since 1970, Denton FarmPark has been hosting the Southeast Old Threshers Reunion over the Fourth of July weekend. This year, the show is June 30 to July 4. Over five days, more than 50,000 visitors will listen to live music, browse through various museums, view 1,500 tractors, ride on the train and watch demonstrations and tractor pulls on the property’s 170 acres. Many set up RVs and tents to stay for the entire show.

Most years, the Taylor family, including children, in-laws and grandchildren, bring six pedal tractors and a ride-on toy for children, to show.

“Most of [the pedal tractors] have historical significance to our family,” Kathryn says. “One of ours belonged to Jeff when he was a child. He found it in the back of his parents’ shed and he restored it. They mean something.”

From Fly-In to Reunion

In the 1960s, Brown Loflin bought land in Denton to build a private airstrip for a Cessna he co-owned with a friend. Brown, a jack-of-all-trades, owned a boxspring manufacturing plant, worked as a mechanic and raced cars at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem.

When a local rescue squad needed new equipment, Brown coordinated a Fly-In, a community event with local pilots, on July 4, 1970, to raise funds to buy a generator.

We have so many families that come here generationally. They talk about how much they love the place. They want us to keep it going because they make memories here.

“Local people would pay to ride an airplane,” says Karen Miller, Brown’s daughter. “It became quite popular, and they did that for several years.”

As the event grew, Brown incorporated thresher machinery demonstrations. Threshers, a type of farm equipment that separates seeds from stalks and husks by beating the plant, provided entertainment for those waiting for a ride in a plane.

“My dad would keep adding things,” says Karen, an EnergyUnited member. “He had a passion for saving local buildings. The Jackson Hill community had a store and a church. He brought them in and restored them.”

By the 1980s, airplanes were no longer participating, and the event was renamed Southeast Old Threshers Reunion. Over the years, Brown introduced a blacksmith, cotton gin, service station and shoe shop, as well as Coke, doll and radio museums. He invited exhibitors and food vendors and set up more than 500 RV and camp sites.

In 1982, with the help of investors, a 1.5 mile train track was installed on the property. Currently, a 1948 70-ton Diesel Electric built by the General Electric Locomotive Division powers the Handy Dandy Railroad. The fully accessible train treats passengers to a general park trip or a bandit and cowboy show.

“We have so many families that come here generationally,” Karen says. “They talk about how much they love the place. They want us to keep it going because they make memories here.”