On the move: IH event covers U.S. agriculture from beets to trees

CATAWISSA, Mo. — Whether it’s beets or corn, cotton or Christmas trees, there’s a piece of International Harvester equipment that was made to plant or harvest it, sometimes both.

For Bob Buxton, current president of the National International Harvester Collectors Club, seeing agriculture and the crops that are unique to different regions of the United States is one of the things that makes the Red Power Round Up so interesting.

“The neat thing about moving it around is each area has something a little bit different to offer. You see different products, different demonstrations and different types of equipment displayed. If you go to Pennsylvania or North Dakota, Alabama, agriculture is just a little bit different in each of those places, how it’s done and the crops they raise. To me, that’s what is so fascinating. When you go to the different regions, people have those IH products and they bring them out and it’s fascinating to see them,” Buxton said.

Buxton presides over an organization that has 40 chapters across the United States, two in Canada, one in Sweden, one in the United Kingdom and about 7,000 members around the globe.

This year, many of those will be coming to DuQuoin, Illinois, for the 32nd National Red Power Round Up. This year’s event is hosted by the International Harvester Collectors Southern Illinois Chapter 32.

Hosting the show is something that Buxton is familiar with, since Missouri hosted in 2008 and again in 2015. After his state hosted in 2008, Buxton was asked to run for a spot on the elected board of the national organization. After a few years as a board member, he was elected president.

“It’s really the individual chapters that do most of the work and we oversee all of them as the national organization,” Buxton said.

When it comes to the Red Power Round Up, the chapter hosting the event does the most work, with the national chapter advising when needed.

Buxton said he’s looking forward to attending this year’s event, just a few miles across the Mississippi River from his home in eastern Missouri and he’s not going to come without something to show off.

“I’ve got a Super H with an Electrall that is being restored and I hope to have it finished in time,” he said.

The Electrall was the electric power generator that was optional on tractors when it was first introduced in the mid 1950s. It could be used for a variety of purposes, to power everything from lights to milking machines to elevators. The Electrall is an example of one of the many products that International Harvester made to try to meet the needs of farmers and farm families.

“They made a wide range of products. In the 1950s and 1960s, I like to say they tried to be the Walmart to the farmer, to the agricultural community. They tried to provide about every kind of product they thought the farmer would need. They tried to have a product for just about every farming application you can think of. They sold cotton pickers, they sold beet planters and harvesters, they sold corn pickers,” Buxton said.

The Red Power Round Up is an opportunity to feature the equipment and the crops of each region.

“When it was in Alabama, they featured cotton, how it is raised, how it is harvested and how the IH equipment worked there. One of the things we saw when the show was in Pennsylvania was they took an International Harvester tractor and modified it to trim Christmas trees,” Buxton said.

The Red Power Round Up, slated for July 1-3 this year, is one of three major events for the national club.

The club also has a Winter Convention, which is usually held in March, and the National Auction, which is usually held in early November. Like the Red Power Round Up, the convention and the auction move around from state to state. The 2021 National Auction will be conducted Nov. 5-6 in Monrovia, Indiana.

Buxton said at all of the events, but especially at the Red Power Round Up, one of the best parts is getting to see friends.

“After you get involved in this organization, the biggest thing is seeing old friends and renewing friendships and acquaintances. You meet people from all across the country and all around the world, because there will be international visitors there. Seeing those people again, catching up with them, is one of the big things to look forward to,” Buxton said.

There’s also one major bit of business that Buxton will oversee as president of the National IHCC in DuQuoin in July.

“We’ll have a general membership meeting and a board of directors meeting. We have one meeting and it’s at the Round Up. The membership will then vote on a future site for the event. The big thing will be for them to decide where they want to go for the show in 2025, that will be the show location they will be voting on. It’s a three plus year process to host one of these Red Power Round Ups,” Buxton said.