Gleaner combine enthusiasts will celebrate the brand?s 90-year history of harvesting innovations Saturday, Aug. 17, with a commemoration, combine caravan and parade.
Gleaner, a leading combine brand manufactured by AGCO, boasts many innovations, including being the world?s first self-propelled combine, introduced in 1923.
The day of celebration will begin with a short ceremony at 7 a.m. in Nickerson to mark the brand?s 1923 birthplace.
At 7:30 a.m., a combine caravan of old and new machines will travel from Nickerson to Gleaner?s present-day manufacturing home in Hesston.
Gleaner enthusiasts are encouraged to join the celebration by bringing their combines and joining the caravan, which will culminate with a community-wide parade through the streets of Hesston.
The public is invited to join the celebration; combine drivers who choose not to travel in the 40-mile caravan from Nickerson to Hesston may still join in the one-mile parade through the streets of Hesston.
Those interested may get more information or preregister by sending an email to info@gleanersuper7.com. Preregistration for the combine caravan and parade is required by Aug. 7.
The combine caravan will travel from Nickerson to Hesston via 82nd Avenue and Dutch Avenue, arriving at the Excel Industries Inc. parking lot at 200 S. Ridge Road for parade staging at about 11 a.m.
At 11:30 a.m., the combine caravan will be joined by other parade participants, including a 1925 Gleaner combine, a 1954 Gleaner A, the Wichita Caledonia Pipes and Drums band, public safety vehicles, motorcycle organizations and many other participants.
Spectators may watch the parade as it travels down Ridge Road from Excel Industries Inc. to AGCO Hesston Operations, where combines will be on display during the early afternoon.
