Winner South Dakota offered Bullnanza at the Tripp County 4-H grounds today, Friday Feb 10, 2012. Compared to a few days ago, today was a bit on the chilly and windy side. More than a few area farmers and ranchers dropped into Mathis Implement for some good steak sandwiches. It was a free lunch. A rarity around this area and it attracted a good crowd.
This is the crowd after another hour of eaters made it through the line. By the time I got there with a camera, the crowd had shrunk. There are fast talkers and fast eaters. The steak hotpan was starting to run on empty. Down to the last of the 200 to 300 steaks and hoagie buns. Some guys ate a couple of them, so the steak numbers are only an estimate of the number of eager eaters. The air was filled with smoke . Probably from broiling the steak, cooking the beans, and heating the tater tots.
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Like many of these dinners, it gave friends and neighbors a chance to talk and socialize a bit.
It also gave the Mathis family a chance to talk to some of their customers. James Mathis and a customer were in a deep discussion when I was fishing the ladle out of the beans and heading for the cake and softdrinks.
This year Mathis Implement has been selling farm equipment here for about 53 years in Winner. They started off in Yankton, SD for a few years and then got out west.
Equipment has changed a lot in that time. Just as has farming and ranching. Single bulls at Bullnanza probably sold for more than a quarter of land 53 years ago. Combines were a lot smaller then too. My father bought an Allis Chalmers with a big wide five foot wide header and a 22 bushel grain tank. Farm ground was available in Clay County South Dakota for around eighty dollars an acre then.
That was then, this is now. Below is one of the tractors and loaders and some other equipment on the Mathis lotl
The Mathis business building has been expanded over the years. It now has a larger shop area which today served as a lunchroom and two separate truck areas and buildings. Below is the front of the business. From the image, it looks like the business phone numbers are 605-842-3110 and 800-658-3494.
And a bit of a disclaimer: James Mathis and Mathis Bros. have been renting some of our farmland for several years, so even if you enjoyed the food and conversation today, I won't be too offended if you don't take all of this too seriously.
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