William Gregory teaches nephew Liam and niece Quinn Montgomery, children of Serena and Adam Montgomery, how to spin the ticket drum. In foreground at left is the grand prize.
Text, photos by Roger Allen
There were serious snowstorm concerns the day and night before the Montezuma Lions Club’s Toy and Craft show held Saturday, Jan. 28.
But conditions proved acceptable for travel and vendors participated from considerable distances from Montezuma. Those included vendors from Davenport and Muscatine on the east, and from Des Moines and other cities and towns to the west, and as far away as Stratford in north central Iowa.
Maksim Peiffer of Packwood is pleased with the model truck he had just purchased at the toy show. His mother Dena (Taylor) Peiffer is a Montezuma native.
In all there were nearly 50 display tables filling the high school’s Central Gym, plus four tables full of silent auction items donated from the model tractors and trucks collection of the late William “Bill” Henkle, plus a Tonka toys collection donated by Mark Vavroch.
Toy and Craft Show vendors Rod & Jackie Robie, at left, of Malcom, with their display of collectable items.Hannah DeJong of Montezuma, at right, a granddaughter of the late William “Bill” Henkle, touches one of the model tractors from the Henkle collection sold in a silent auction. The Henkle toys were donated with proceeds to be divided equally by the Lions club and the local American Legion’s building fund. At left is Boyd Sparks, a member of both organizations, helping supervise the auction. Hannah recalled admiring her grandfather’s collection in his home.
Proceeds from the successful silent auction of the Henkle collection were divided equally between the Lions club and the Montezuma American Legion building fund, as stipulated by the Henkle family.
Show Chairman Ron Hensel said he felt it turned out to be “a good show,” and a successful fundraiser and community attraction. There were also collectors pleased with their “finds” and big smiles by children and door prize winners who went home with a nice new toy or other merchandise.
Numerous vendors volunteered that they had a good day and plan to be back next year.
Winner of a drawing for a 2014 model National Tractor Pulling Champion tractor, valued at about $300, was Boyd Sparks of Montezuma.
THIS TALENTED WOOD CRAFTSMAN is Tony Langstraat of Pella, pictured with some of the impressive toys he has made. Tony said he was truck driver until he was sidelined to his home by heart problems in 1993. That is when he began to see what he could create. The Montezuma Lions’ toy show was the first time he had exhibited some of his many creations at a show.
Toy Show Chairman Ron Hensel, at left, and his chairman-in-training assistant William Gregory, at right, with Boyd Sparks, winner of the show’s big prize, a model 2014 pulling contest tractor contest champion valued at about $300. Moments before Sparks, a Methodist pastor, won, he had offered a prayer for safe travels for the show vendors’ homeword travel in wintry weather, but he was teased with questions about whether he had also prayed about the prize.
