The 17th Annual Red River Valley Sugarbeet Museum Harvest Festival will be this Sunday, September 11, at the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Museum in Crookston from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission for the festival is free, and this year will be in honor of Paul Dragseth.
The festival has been an event the museum has done every year since its creation in 2004, only missing it once in 2020, due to COVID-19, where they have demonstrations of their vintage equipment harvesting sugarbeets but has since grown to cover harvesting other crops and events. “Originally, all we did was harvest sugarbeets with old, vintage equipment. Then we expanded it into grain harvesting, and two years ago, we started having a tractor pull behind the museum. That’s been a real crowd pleaser, and we’ll be having that again this year,” said Museum Board of Directors President Allan Dragseth. “Instead of a thrasher machine and steam engine, this year, we’re going to try and use a 1940, 4-5-foot-wide McCormick Deering Model 42R Combine, and if we can find something to make slots small enough to go through it, we’ll be trying that. At the same time, we hope to run a grain binder to show people who bundles were made and how they shocked them in the field.” The museum will begin the demonstration of the Beet Harvest at 11:00 a.m. and the Tractor Pull at noon. All of these events will be held on the land plot to the southwest of the museum, with the tractor pull happening over the hill behind it. The museum recommends bringing lawn chairs or golf carts to enjoy it in comfort if people wish to watch the Tractor Pull. “I always say, bring your grandpa and a camera and enjoy yourself taking pictures of these old machines and see how it was done in the past and how much more work it was compared to what it is nowadays sitting in a nice, air-conditioned cabin and doing all the work that way instead of sitting out in the open,” said Dragseth. The event is also being held in honor of the museum’s Secretary-Treasurer Paul Dragseth, who died at the end of 2021. The museum felt it necessary to honor all of the work he had done to help the museum run during its lifespan.
While admissions and other events at the festival are free, the museum will also accept freewill donations. The Barnyard Bites food truck from Beltrami will also be at the museum serving food for those who want lunch but will charge for their items.
At the same time, the Polk County Historical Society Museum will be holding “Pioneer Day” at the Polk County Museum from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. If people wish to travel to the museum for their event or would like to return to it later, T.H.E. Bus will be running between the museums every half hour to both museums. “Together with the Polk County Historical Society Museum just down the street, we’ll have a bus that will run back and forth every half hour, so you can go see what’s at their museum for “Pioneer Days” and then come back here,” Dragseth explained. “But we have more parking than them, so it’s easier to park over here and then catch the bus and go over there.”
The 17th Annual Red River Valley Sugarbeet Museum Harvest Festival will be this Sunday, September 11, at the Red River Valley Sugarbeet Museum in Crookston from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission to the harvest and all of the events are free, except for food purchased from the food truck. If you have any questions about the Harvest Festival or other things about the museum, you can contact the museum at 218-281-2550 or www.sugarbeetmuseum.com. A picture of the festival’s flyer can be found below-
