Special to the Times Vedette
The 34th Annual Audubon Lions Toy Show will be held Saturday, Feb. 22 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Agri-Hall at the Audubon County Fairgrounds in Audubon. This toy show is routinely scheduled for the fourth Saturday in February. The attendance is expected to be between 300 to 500 people.
Co-Chair Derek Deist says about 70 tables will be rented by 20 different vendors, featuring all varieties of farm toys, toy cars, other toys and ag-related collectibles. Attendees will find both new and vintage/antique toys.
The Audubon Lions will offer an early-morning breakfast at their lunch counter for all vendors and early Lions workers of eggs, sausage and toast beginning at 6:30 a.m. Hot sandwiches, hot soups, sodas, water and a variety of desserts are available throughout the day for purchase. The lunch crew is staffed with Lions volunteers.
This is a fundraiser for the Audubon Lions Club. Between 25-30 Lions volunteers are responsible for planning and carrying out this activity for adults and kids alike. Twenty door prizes will be drawn throughout the day.
The history
Thirty-five years ago, Audubon Lions Howard Jensen, Rich McVinua and Bryan Betts traveled to northwest Iowa to check out a toy show. They were looking for a fundraising project for the Audubon Lions Club.
Rich McVinua began as an Iowa Public Services truck driver on construction crews, then became a serviceman, and finally he an engineer and crew supervisor for IPS, which eventually evolved into MidAmerican Energy. After taking early retirement in 1995, he started a shop north of town by the “old bowling alley” where he enjoyed restoring old tractors, both small toys and large tractors, for people.
Howard Jensen became a partner with his father in the J&M International Harvester Implement business in Exira and the Audubon Implement Company in Audubon. In 1964, Howard and his business partner/brother Jim Jensen built a new building in Audubon. After retiring, he spent the next 10 years restoring Model A and Model T Ford Cars. He also collected and restored antique toy tractors and some toy farm implements. There is a magazine dedicated to parts and supplies for restoring old farm toys. It was called the “Toy Farmer” and is still in business today. This is where Howard bought his parts for his toy implement “repair” business.
For many years, Bryan Betts operated the family farm, during which Bryan also attended auctioneering school. Along with farming, he operated his own auction house in Audubon and Carroll for many years. Bryan was a collector of farm toys and used to donate some of his collection for door prizes at the Toy Show.
It must have been the love of the farm, farm machinery, restorations and selling that sparked these three gentlemen to unite and start the first Lions Toy Show in Audubon.