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Home floats away on river due to severe flooding.

People flocked to the freshly turned ground at the Legacy of the Plains Saturday, Sept. 18, to fill bags with potatoes, check out farm machinery and learn about history.

The 26th annual Legacy of the Plains Harvest Festival spotlighted potato harvest by hand, mule and machine. Dave Wolf, the Legacy of the Plains Museum executive director, said the crowd bagging potatoes was the largest he has seen in a while.

“A lot of people showed up to dig potatoes. I really don’t know if we are going to have any left after this weekend,” Wolf said.

Aryianna Lovett, one years-old, was looking for the perfect potato during the 26th annual Harvest Festival at the Legacy of the Plains Museum on Saturday, Sept. 17.

Wolf and other volunteers manned a tent selling three sizes of bags for people to pick their own russet potatoes.

“We were only able to get one type of potato, russet, not the two we usually have,” Tim Maxcy, a Legacy of the Plains volunteer, said. “We get the potatoes from a seed dealer in Alliance, he donates whatever he has left.”

Two popular attractions were the hay bale fort and the barrel train geared toward young kids. Kieler sisters, Kiera, 4, and Moana, 5, raced across the bales while waiting for an open seat on the barrel train.

“They love it here, we come every year and they really like (the hay fort) and the animals,” the girls’ mom said.

The volunteers added to the museum’s tractor display and were on hand to circle the festival in a true parade fashion. Joining the tractor parade were volunteers on horseback and in horse- or mule-pulled carts. The volunteers could be seen explaining their less than modern farming equipment and letting people pet the horses.

Beyond the potatoes and tractors, shouts and screams could often be heard from inside the corn maze.

A young girl meanders through the corn maze at Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering during the Harvest Festival on Saturday. The corn maze was one of several attraction families could enjoy.

Jessica and Sadie Gurnsey raced ahead of their dad, eager to reach the end of the maze.

Jessica said she was just the right height to slip down the corn path quickly.

“This is fun, I’m not worried, we will get to the end soon,” she said.

Whether riding in a tractor pulled cart or walking through the festival, people could also take turns hand shucking, try “cowboy coffee” fresh off the fire, snow cones for sample the tasty smells coming from a food truck.

Jack Bowman, a Legacy of the Plains Museum volunteer, was giving passengers rides and spinning the flag adorned trailer in tight circles during the museum’s annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, Sept. 17.

Festival goers could experience live demonstrations in the Blacksmith shop and wonder through time in the Wiedeman House and Gentry Cabin.

Nancy Haney, a Legacy of the Plains Museum volunteer, could be found in the Wiedeman Farms historical house sharing stories from when the house was built and moved to the museum’s land.

“When the family said they would really like to move the house, we had the basement remade like it was in 1930 and we did the upstairs like it would have been in the 1950’s,” she said.

Haney was greeting the visitors to the historical house by pointing out a photo of David and Marie Wiedeman that originally built the house.

The barrel train was a popular attraction for children who attended Legacy of the Plains’ Harvest Festival on Saturday. Kids enjoyed being pulled around the property over the bumpy terrain.

“The countertop in the basement shows just how short of a lady Mrs. Wiedeman truly was,” she said.

People of all ages found the historical home a highlight of the festival. Emmett Aaberg shouted to his sister, Allison, to rush to the basement so he could show her something.

“Hurry up, you’ve got to come down here and see what’s really cool,” he said. “I think this is a dad’s room. There’s all this stuff that’s cool and a really soft hat.”

He commented that the 1930’s style long underwear looked like a jumpsuit and couldn’t believe a man would have worn them underneath pants.

The Harvest Festival wrapped up Sunday, Sept. 18, beginning with a church service at 9 a.m. Following the service, potato digging continued and the festivities ran until 4 p.m.

Jack Bowman, a Legacy of the Plains Museum volunteer, was giving passengers rides and spinning the flag adorned trailer in tight circles during the museum’s annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, Sept. 17.

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Nicole Heldt is a reporter with the Star-Herald, covering agriculture. She can be reached at 308-632-9044 or by email at nheldt@starherald.com.

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Aryianna Lovett, one years-old, was looking for the perfect potato during the 26th annual Harvest Festival at the Legacy of the Plains Museum on Saturday, Sept. 17.

Jack Bowman, a Legacy of the Plains Museum volunteer, was giving passengers rides and spinning the flag adorned trailer in tight circles during the museum’s annual Harvest Festival on Saturday, Sept. 17.

The barrel train was a popular attraction for children who attended Legacy of the Plains’ Harvest Festival on Saturday. Kids enjoyed being pulled around the property over the bumpy terrain.

A young girl meanders through the corn maze at Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering during the Harvest Festival on Saturday. The corn maze was one of several attraction families could enjoy.

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