The 35th Annual New Ulm Toy Show featured miniature farm displays. Many of the displays took part in the National Farm Toy Show in Dyersville, Iowa, including the model created by Chris Burmeister of New Ulm.

NEW ULM — Like a reliable tractor, the annual New Ulm Toy Show plowed ahead this weekend at the Civic Center.

The toy show is a Labor Day weekend tradition, and this year was a milestone year. The show celebrated 35 years in New Ulm. The event continues to draw crowds from across the midwest.

The New Ulm Toy Show has a focus on farm toys and farm miniatures but does expand out to include other toy vehicles and even some action figures and dolls.

The first toy show was started by Brad Zender, who still comes to the show every year as a vendor. Zender said he never saw it going this long.

“I thought if this lasts five years, it will be a miracle,” he said.

For the last five years, the toy show was organized by Wendy and Jim Mealman. Wendy was pleased with the turnout but said COVID-19 did throw them for a loop. Last year, Mealman said the organizers were planning a big blowout for the 35th anniversary of the show, but because of the pandemic the plans were scaled back. Despite scaling back, Mealman said there was a steady flow of visitors. Within the first two hours, 187 paying visitors entered the show. This number does not include children who entered for free.

“It tells us this show is still popular and is still needed,” Wendy said.

COVID did cause the cancellation of many toy shows across the country, meaning for some farm toy aficionados, this event was a rare chance to purchase or sell collectibles. Mealman said people were calling from Wisconsin and Illinois to see if the show was going as scheduled. Some of the vendors had even traveled from Illinois.

Mealman became involved in farm toy collecting through her husband Jim. Jim grew up on a farm and was collecting the toys. One day he noticed he had duplicate toys and decided to sell off the extras. Wendy said the toy shows were a bonding experience and many couples attend the shows together.

Others became involved with farm toys and miniatures through their kids. Brad Duenow said his son was involved with 4-H displays and they had a contact in North Carolina who made miniature hay bails. One year the contact was unable to deliver, but he gave Duenow detailed instructions on how to make the miniatures himself. He has been doing it ever since.

Recently Duenow has been experimenting with 3D-printer technology to produce some unique miniatures, including fish houses.

“It is a lot of playing around and asking people what they want,” he said.

Tom Geurts of Hutchinson was new to the toy show. He brought along a wide array of collectibles including G.I. Joe action figures. Geurts said he started toy collecting with G.I. Joes. These toys were his favorite when he was a kid and when he grew up, he was able to find all the funs toys he wanted as a kid. Now, with a large assortment of toys, he’s trying to whittle his toy collection down.

The toy show also featured miniature displays. Most of the displays feature farm themes and country settings.

Greg Borth of Fairfax once again brought his award-winning display to the show. The farmland diorama continues to grow each year. This year he brought back the hog barns, which are popular. He also added a cabin with a party deck. Borth said the cabin and other locations in his model are inspired by real places he has seen. He is constantly making minor changes to the set. Visitors to the show can expect further expansions before next year.

The 35 Annual Toy Show is expected to return next year for Labor Day weekend. Some of the bigger events planned this year could be brought back for the 36th show.