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Hobby show appeals to the engineer in all of us

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Photo by Terry Mayer

Nine-year-old Kyle Deschner of Delavan shows one of the many sacle model trains he owns. Kyle will show off more of his collectibles at the Delavan Train Show from March 12-13 at the Delavan American Legion Hall, 111 S. Second St. Sparked by Kyle’s interest in toy trains, his parents, Brad and Sara Deschner, now organize the annual show.

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DELAVAN — Sara and Brad Deschner never thought they would be organizing a community train show that attracts thousands of visitors each year.

It was when their son Kyle who got the couple started.

"Our son loves toy trains," Sara Deschner said.

The Delavan couple took Kyle, now 9, to his first local train show when he was about to turn 2 years old. Then the boy got a chance to see some real trains, and he just couldn't help falling in love with them.

"I went to Nebraska for a business trip," Sara Deschner said. "Brad and Kyle went with me, and while I was at meetings, Brad took Kyle to see some trains. He was just blown away with trains and speed."

Their son's love for trains became the couple's yearly duty to put together the Delavan Train Show, which this year is Friday, March 12, through Sunday, March 14, at the Delavan American Legion, 111 S. 2nd St.

This year's train show will include about 13 model train layouts. There will be raffles for gift certificates from local restaurants and other businesses, as well as starter model train sets and 4-foot by 8-foot model train layout.

American Legion Hall staff will sell beverages and food.

The Delavan Train Show for years was held at Community Bank under the guidance of train aficionado Jim Saer. When Saer retired, it was up to the Deschners to ensure the show didn't retire with him.

"With Jim retiring, we had the opportunity … to ensure it would be available for everybody to enjoy," Sara Deschner said. "What we didn't know was if we would be able to make the show sustain itself."

Last year, total expenses were about $2,500. Sara Deschner said her family doesn't expect to break even, let alone make a profit off the show. But it would be nice to have enough financial cushion to ensure the continuity of the event.

"Our visitors have been very, very supportive of that," she said. "Without the donations, we wouldn't be able to continue year after year."

Sara said they have gotten close to balancing the books.

"The goal is to recoup as much as we can so we can put the show together next year," she said.

"Some people ask us why we do that," she said. "It's important to have things that families can do together. What makes a small town special? It's a community, and I think we need to have those community events.

"We also believe very strongly that families should have hobbies together. It's important to maintain those relationships"

Gordon Letheby, 67, of Monroe plans to be there with most of his family. Attending train shows—sometimes 12 in one year— is a tradition the Letheby family has kept for years.

"It's just a family thing," Letheby said.

The family started attending the Delavan Train Show last year, and once again this year, they will come out strong, including Letheby's wife, daughter and son-in-law, and Letheby's brother, Jim, who will bring his sons and grandchildren.

"It's a family get-together for us," he said.

For the Deschners, it's also all about family. But it takes more than three people to put together the Delavan show.

"We do coordinate the show, but it's a community effort," Sara Deschner said.

"It's not our show. We're just the people that get things started, but there is a lot of people that deserve credit for it."

Sara Deschner said strong supporters are the Delavan American Legion and Chuck and Carolyn Carlson, a Delavan couple who also shows model trains at the show.