Show supporters

Don and Donna Bickel haven’t always been part of the largest annual event in Jay County.

But once they got started, the just kept getting more and more involved.

And now when the show arrives each year — actually, well before it’s time to head to the grounds — they’re putting out at least as much energy as the Maytag and International engines they have on display.

The Bickels, who live on U.S. 27 just south of the Jay-Randolph county line, are a couple of the many volunteers who help the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association’s directors put the show together each year.

“Anything you ask them to do, they do it,” said Tri-State president Chris Englehardt. “They’re both super people.”

Donna explains that the couple, married for 51 years, didn’t attend the Tri-State show in its earliest days. But then they started coming — Don’s late brother Keith was a regular — and eventually Donna’s cousin Joan Klingel asked her to help out working in the red barn.

“We’ve come up every year since,” said Donna, who has now been a regular at the red barn for more than two decades and has taken on other duties as well.

She and her cousin now start working on the Tri-State show book each January, securing advertisers and getting it to the printer. They also design the official show T-shirts.

In the red barn during the show, which begins Wednesday and runs through Aug. 26, she helps sell the T-shirts, as well as mugs, hats, medallions and other souvenirs.

“She works and I sit down and rest,” said Don.

“Oh, you do not,” Donna retorted. “We put him to work too.”

That work has included a variety of odd jobs over the years, including building a few shelves for one of the offices.

Then, two years ago, he talked himself into a bigger task.

“We were working in there and he said one day, ‘Looks like it’d be better if they put these buildings on wheels, roll them in and out,’” said Donna, 70. “So, because he opened his big mouth, he got a job.”

“That’s the way it goes, I guess,” said Don, 72.

The former red barn, which during the show sits between the Lionburger stand and the Farmer’s Building, was difficult to transport. In order to move it, a pair of forklifts had to pick it up and put it on a flat-bed truck. The method wasn’t easy, taking a crew of at least four or five, and caused damage to the structure as well.

Don, a Bryant native who worked for decades in construction (first in carpentry and then steel fabricating), got to the task of building a better red barn. With only instructions of what size the Tri-State directors wanted the barn, he started with some sketches and then set to building.

“I just worked on it whenever I felt like going out and working on it,” Don said.

He completed the new red barn — it’s more than twice as big as the old one, 192 square feet compared to the previous 80 and is equipped with a hitch to be easily towed by a truck — in time for the next year’s show.

The workers and Tri-State directors were thrilled with the results.

“We brought it out and they liked it last year … so then they wanted a new office building built,” said Donna, a 1965 Portland High School graduate.

So, over the winter and spring, he built again. And for this year’s show, the red barn has a gray partner nearby that will serve as the secretary’s office.

“And they’re not done,” said former Tri-State president Jack Rouch, who rolled up on his golf cart to chat with the couple.

He explained that another small red barn, once used as a concession stand and now home to volunteer groups, could use a replacement. And maybe a white barn after that.

“This is all new to me,” said Don, chuckling.

The Bickels, who together have two daughters, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, have gotten their family involved as well. Their daughter, Deann Dixon, made a placard for the new red barn, helped with the sign that displays all of the states represented at the show and put the names on benches dedicated to charter Tri-State members.

Don and Donna say the big reason they put so much time into the event is that they enjoy spending time with their show friends, who have become like family, from places like West Virginia and Omaha, Nebraska.

And they plan to continue to do what they can to make the annual show a enjoyable for the thousands who visit each year.

“If it needs to be done, we chip in and help,” Donna said.

“That’s what it’s all about, I guess,” added Don, “help everybody, keep things going.”