Dreams become reality and grow in James River Valley
BY JOY POWERS

Editor's note: This is the third in a series of articles that wil focus on the many interesting and historic places in LaMoure County

This week we travel the Scenic Back Roads Project from Lake LaMoure to visit a place where dreams have gone beyond dreams, a place where two people began collecting, selling, and trading farm toys. Join us as we visit the place it all began for Claire and Cathy Scheibe and the creation of the Toy Farmer.

It began as S & S Antiques with the Scheibe’s buying and selling farm toys and other antiques in 1970. Through the years, the business prospered and grew. To make things easier, Claire began composing price lists. Each list was numbered and sent out to various customers making it easier for them to place their orders. As the years passed by customers and friends began to know and trust the Scheibe’s and suggested to them the idea sending out a newsletter. As the words of encouragement came in, they decided to give it a try.

They knew about one other newsletter of this type that was mimeographed and mailed out. Claire and Cathy decided to go one step further and be the first newsletter of this kind to be printed. In January 1978 the 1^st Toy Farmer newsletter was sent out to 17 subscribers who had paid $7.50 for a one-year subscription to a newsletter they’d never seen. By the end of 1978, the list had grown to approximately 250 subscribers. Today, 24 years later, the subscriber list has grown to approximately 26,000 and the newsletter has changed into a four-color magazine. In March 1990, the Scheibe’s also became the publishers of The American Toy Trucker. When the Scheibe’s purchased this magazine, they changed the name to Toy Trucker & Contractor hoping to broaden its scope and appeal to collectors worldwide. Today this magazine has a subscriber list of approximately 6,200 people.

A friend of the Scheibe’s, Dave Bell, worked for the Ertl Company in Dyersville, Iowa. He was responsible for pointing their interest towards purchasing new farm toys. As Dave and Claire talked, they began to dream and began by dreaming big with an idea of hosting a National Farm Toy Show. Claire and Cathy had some experience as members of the Valley City Antique Collector’s Club managing one of their antique shows, but this was to be a huge undertaking. Ready for the challenge, plans were set into motion and they chose a small gymnasium in a Catholic School in Dyersville for the location. The two families worked hard together. They were very pleased when approximately 200 people attended the first-ever National Farm Toy Show.

The next year, as interest grew, they expanded the National Farm Toy Show into a second gymnasium at the school. Needing even more room the next year, they moved the National Farm Toy Show into the high school. With the National Farm Toy show growing every year, Dave Bell began to wonder if the small community of Dyersville would consider constructing a building that could be used to house the National Farm Toy Museum and also be used as a Community Recreation Center. Once the building was completed, the National Farm Toy Show was held there, still needing space in the high school and two other buildings. Approximately 600 tables are set up and it currently brings around 15,000 people into this small town of 4000-5000 people for the big event. A town of this size does not have enough lodging for this many people, and from the beginning, the people of the community opened up their homes and their hearts and invited the visitors into their homes to stay. These people return annually and stay in the same homes with their newly found friends year after year. Also, each summer in LaMoure, The Toy Farmer holds a North Dakota Farm Toy Show in the LaMoure School gym attracting 1000’s of people into this area. This past summer the Toy Farmer hosted its 16^th annual ND Farm Toy Show in LaMoure bringing approximately 500 people into the town for this even.

It was in 1993 when Claire looked around the Scheibe’s home at all the farm toys they had accumulated over the years. These toys were displayed everywhere throughout the house. Claire looked out to the old barn that was just sitting there and came up with the idea of converting it from storage to their own Toy Farmer Museum. The remodeling work began and the grand opening of the ND Toy Farmer Museum, located 4 miles east and 2 miles south of LaMoure, was held in June 1999. Subscribers and collectors from across the United States and all over the world have come to visit the Museum in LaMoure County from as far away as Holland, New Zealand, and Germany. As you step inside the museum, located at the Scheibe’s farm, just east of LaMoure, you’ll enter a world filled with history and memorabilia. You’ll see thousands of pieces that have come together over the years to build Cathy and Claire’s life as the Toy Farmer grew each year.

The Toy Farmer now employs 10 full-time employees, three employees at the museum, and one employee as groundskeeper during the summer. The Toy Farmer Country Store is located in Dyersville, Iowa and also employs 2 full-time people and 4 part-time people. The Toy Farmer also has a small wholesale business that deals in making miniature replicas of actual barns and selling them in the Toy Farmer Country Store.

Claire Scheibe died in July 2000. His wife and partner, Cathy, has continued on with their dream, helping it grow and prosper. In November 2002 the Toy Farmer will be celebrating their 25^th National Farm Toy Show in Dyersville. From a few small price lists, to tens of thousands attending their shows, the Toy Farmer has grown to be a vital and prospering business in the heart of LaMoure County. We, too, can join in and take pride in the work the Scheibe’s have accomplished, as we watch the Toy Farmer grow and continue to make the James River Valley known to people across the world as the home of the Toy Farmer.

Continue along with us in the fourth article of this series as we explore the history of the Red Wing River Boat, the CCC Dam and Park, and the LaMoure Co. Courthouse.