Howard's Antique Farm Machinery Club hosts 29th annual auction, plans for museum's future

Allana Haynes, Howard County Times, Columbia, Md.
Updated ·3 min read

Mar. 13—By Allana Haynes — ahaynes@baltsun.com

PUBLISHED:March 13, 2024 at 8:00 a.m.| UPDATED:March 14, 2024 at 9:33 p.m.

As the Howard County Antique Farm Machinery Club plans to host its 29th annual auction sale at the Howard County Fairgrounds next month, members are looking to the group's future.

The April 20 sale is the club's main fundraising event, where farm equipment is auctioned and consignments are sold to support the club's mission of "preserving the agricultural way of life that is too quickly disappearing throughout the community," according to its website.

One of the ways the club carried out its mission was through the Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum, which was located on a 39.49-acre portion of West Friendship Park for 18 years until late last year, when the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks terminated the club's lease of the property.

In an Aug. 29 letter to the club, Howard County Recreation & Parks Director Nick Mooneyhan wrote that the county was terminating the club's lease, which was entered into on July 21, 2005, and extended to 2030, "in the best interest of the County." The club was forced to leave in November after what the county called "issues with the physical improvements" at the park.

The museum had grown to include more than 20 buildings, various crops and farming equipment dating from the 1600s through the 1960s. Visitors could tour re-creations of a general store, a one-room schoolhouse and a sawmill, among other structures, to get a glimpse of life in the county before the introduction of electricity.

Although the museum is no longer in existence, the club has not changed its mission and continues to educate the community about the county's agricultural heritage.

John Frank, club president, said the club is looking to the future. He said the proceeds from the April 20 auction will allow the club to continue to present historical activities and examples of agricultural and domestic life from the 17th through the 20th centuries to the community.

"Those funds go toward our effort to accomplish those tasks and mission-oriented activities," he said. "The other way that it helps is that [the auction] is very well-attended and any time we're interacting with the general public population, if they're coming to an auction sale or if they're coming to the Howard County fair, then we're networking with the public and the citizens and we're able to share our mission and our statement and keeping everybody abreast of our activities."

Rebecca Lorah, club treasurer, said she remains optimistic about the club's future.

"My hopes are that we just stay the group that we are and the course that we're headed, always keeping our chin raised and always being positive about our situation," she said.

The Howard County Antique Farm Machinery Club's annual auction is scheduled 9 a.m.to 8 p.m., April 20, at the Howard County Fairgrounds, 2210 Fairgrounds Road, West Friendship. People can bring items to sell from April 17 to 19, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., each day.

For more information, visit farmheritage.org.

Share this:

— Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

— Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

—