Two Cylinder Club cancels Palmerston John Deere Show

PALMERSTON – Members of the Upper Canada Two Cylinder Club (UCTCC) have collectively decided to cancel the organization’s upcoming John Deere Show in Palmerston.

“This decision was not made lightly and was reached after significant discussion and deliberation occurred amongst the UCTCC’s [members],” the group states in an appreciation letter on its website.

The show, which was to run over the course of the weekend of the 45th annual Palmerston tractor pull (July 25 and 26), has been held in Palmerston for the last three years.

Over that time, the club has contributed to the community, including monetary donations to the Palmerston Food Bank, the Minto fire department, the Palmerston and District Hospital and, more recently, to Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus, officials say.

Their letter adds, “People of all ages attend our family-friendly John Deere Show each year, including spectators from around the world.

“Our show has continually grown and changed to include many activities and aspects of agriculture and community support.”

However, due to the fallout of recent accusations that their summer event left local soccer fields unplayable, the club made a unanimous decision to cancel.

David Craig, past president of the UCTCC, previously told the Community News the club never had an issue until last fall, when Minto officials approached it about signing an agreement for the 2026 show.

Craig said club officials had previously operated under a verbal agreement but decided in January to sign the document, which guaranteed no damage to the soccer pitch.

Craig and club member Doug Dann previously shared they assumed that was the end of the affair, but then Minto United Soccer Club officials brought up field damage at an April 21 Minto council meeting. 

Soccer club president Jeff Klemp told council about problems with the fields behind the Palmerston community centre. 

He said council needs to create policies to protect sports fields, though he stressed he did not blame the group that rented the space because it was following an agreement signed with the town.

“Without those bylaws, the policies … the community sports fields are at risk of being used in ways that compromise their condition and availability for youth and organizations they were built to serve,” Klemp said at the council meeting.

Craig and Dann said this led to a letter from the town to the UCTCC, suggesting a portion of its show may be relocated to a different, smaller area on the property.

Craig told the Community News on June 12 the group chose to cancel the 2026 show at its May directors’ meeting after discussing three different ways to proceed.

He shared the options were to:

• go ahead and continue with the show as agreed to in writing;
• host the show under another option presented to them, which would use less of the soccer field, but require the club to cancel some vendors; or
• cancel the show completely, and give money back to the vendors and campers who had already paid.

“Our decision was not an easy one,” said Craig. “We spent two hours talking about those three options before someone made the motion to cancel. It was seconded, and it was a unanimous decision to cancel.”

Minto CAO Gregg Furtney confirmed in an email that the UCTCC show in July has been cancelled, noting “that decision was made by the members of the UCTCC, not the Town of Minto. We wish them well.”

The UCTCC first began in 1993 with John Deere collectors meeting in Drayton. The inaugural John Deere Show was held there a year later and annually until a move to Grand Valley in 2012. 

A subsequent move to Palmerston followed in 2023 as the facilities and grounds provided more space for the show and expanded activities, states the UCTCC appreciation letter.

“Giving back to the community is another important aspect of the UCTCC,” the letter adds. 

“Our club seeks to help support local resources that anyone may need access to as much as possible. Further, our club would not be able to make these donations without the community’s support, to which we remain very thankful for.”

Craig noted he is “dumbfounded at how the situation evolved.”

“Palmerston had everything that would accentuate a great show, and it was a great show for the two and a half, three years,” he said.

Craig added he hopes to one day have the show return to Palmerston.