PONTIAC - People who have attended the Threshermen's Reunion in the past know the steam engines and displays are not the only one-of-a-kind features. Some of the people who attend and work at the event are unique in their own right.

For example, it's not every day you see a 74-year-old man driving a lawnmower-powered toilet.

"When I would go to local parades ... I would always see the same old antique tractors, floats and other things," said Roger Tuttle of Somonauk. "I thought that there had to be at least one thing to make people smile."

And, from last week's opening day of the 61st annual Central States Threshermen's Reunion, Tuttle was getting his share of stares as "The Turd Herder" moved slowly along the dirt roads of Threshermen's Park. The reunion continues Sunday and Monday at the park on Illinois 23 just off Interstate 55, a few miles north of Pontiac.

Made from the engine of an old lawnmower, the "vehicle" includes numerous pieces from different items that somehow came together to form Tuttle's vision. And the crowning achievement was an old toilet where the driver sits.

After starting the contraption with a rip cord, Tuttle places a cushion on the toilet seat and uses a makeshift peddle in front to drive. He was inspired to name it "The Turd Herder" after he saw the name put on a portable toilet at another festival he attended. He's only had the vehicle for a short time, but so far it's accomplished his original mission.

"When I came driving up in this thing, I got more giggles out of anyone else in that parade," he said.

Another man who is unique to the reunion is Don Beier of Dwight, but a person might not think that's his name upon meeting him.

The first thing you see on his nametag is "Manual Man." His actual name is further down, after several other words. Standing inside his booth, Beier primarily sells old tractor and car manuals. He used to have more than 2,400, but demand has been high from collectors and others, so the number has dropped to about 900, he said.

"People always seem to be interested in getting manuals," he said. "Some people collect and some people are just trying to figure out how to work grandpa's tractor."

Beier said gets a lot of the manuals from the Amish. The oldest one he's ever owned was for a tractor made in 1905. There are piles of them scattered inside his booth, including one for a Ford Model A automobile made in the late 1920's.

"It started out as a hobby, then it became a business and now it's back to being a hobby," he said about his pastime for the past 35 years. "I had a friend...who told me that no one had any manuals for these old tractors, so that got me interested."

For more information about the reunion, visit www.threshermensreunion.org.

---

GO!

What: 61st annual Threshermen's Reunion

When:Sunday and Monday; gates open at 9 a.m. both days

Where: Threshermen's Park, four miles north of Pontiac on Illinois 23

Cost: $7 per day for people 14 and older; free for kids 13 and younger

Highlights: rock crushing; threshing; sheep shearing; tractor pulls; country music shows; general store; 1900 country schoolhouse; saw mill; a 1910-era blacksmith shop; 1920 Conoco gas station; craft show; flea market

Web site: www.threshermensreunion.org