Two cylinder club members deny damaging soccer fields

PALMERSTON  – Members of the club that runs an annual John Deere Show here say they were blindsided by recent accusations that their summer event left local soccer fields un-playable.

And they deny any wrongdoing whatsoever.

“There were no ruts that I saw [last year],” said David Craig, past president of the Upper Canada Two Cylinder Club.

“We never heard anything from Minto about issues created the weekend of our show.”

Craig said club members walked the grounds behind the Palmerston community centre, including the main soccer pitch, following the July 25 to 27 event.

“If there was damage, we didn’t do it,” said club member Doug Dann, who noted there is no fence around the pitch.

“If we cause damage we’re going to fix it.”

At an April 21 Minto council meeting, the club was accused by Minto United Soccer Club president Jeff Klemp of leaving behind possible injury-causing ruts that led to the soccer fields being “condemned.”

Klemp had a petition with 171 signatures asking for council to act on the issue and protect the soccer fields, which have served approximately 250 youths annually over the past several years.

“We’re disappointed ... our club has been named,” said Craig. “It insinuates that we are the problem, which I really don’t think is fair.”

The John Deere Show started in Drayton in 1993, moved to Grand Valley in 2012 and has been held in Palmerston for the past three years.

Craig and Dann say the club never had an issue until last fall, when Minto officials approached them about signing an agreement for the 2026 show.

They had previously operated with a verbal agreement, they said, but they decided in January to sign the document, which guarantees no damage to the soccer pitch. 

They assumed that was the end of the matter, until Minto United Soccer Club officials brought it up again this spring, which led to an April 12 letter from the town to the Two Cylinder Club that suggests a portion of its show may be relocated to a different, much smaller part of the property.

“There’s been a lack of clarity from the town,” said Dann.

Craig said moving campers, many of them seniors, farther way from show attractions is not ideal and, more importantly, neither is a reduced footprint for the event.

“How can we do the same show ... on less space?” he asked.

Craig said the future of the show is now uncertain, but he remains hopeful the matter can be resolved, perhaps during  discussions with Minto officials and with the club’s board of directors – both set for earlier this week (results were not known by press time).

Both Craig and Dann expressed regret about the situation, particularly considering the show’s popularity, its role in “educating the public” on agricultural issues and its charitable efforts in the region.

“We’re trying to be good citizens,” Dann said.

Over the past three years the club has donated over $11,000 combined to the Palmerston Food Bank, Minto fire department, Palmerston hospital and Groves hospital.

“We like to partner with people,” said Craig. “We do a lot of good, positive things with this show.”

Always top of mind for club members, many of them farmers, is being good stewards of the land on which they work, he added.

“I believe in safety and in leaving things the way we found them,” he said.

Craig noted the club would like to discuss the matter with Minto United officials, which to date has not happened.