Local Artist Captures Marvelous Moments at Rentown
Published: Friday, September 18, 2026
The 16th annual Rentown Old Fashion Days were held last Friday and Saturday in the Amish community east of Bremen. Estimated attendance was 2,300 people on Friday night and 1,000 on Saturday, according to Amos Bontrager, treasurer of the organizing committee.
One of the highlights was a Gospel sing around the campfire on Friday evening.
"It's the right way to end the evening and relax and just have family unity," said Bontrager.
Grace Lechlitner of Goshen captured that moment from last year's festival. She photographed the scene and produced an enhanced version on Photoshop. The final step was painting it with an oil-based paint.
An artist and photographer, Lechlitner travels to antique tractor shows and sells her paintings. She and her husband, Rex, have been vendors at Rentown for 12 years. However, this was their last year at the Marshall County festival. They are planning to retire soon.
"It's time to do something else," Grace said. "Just moving on."
Both said they love the Rentown festival.
"It's so family oriented," Grace said. "That's what we like about it. It's all about the family."
Even though they are not Amish, the Lechlitners have developed many friendships over the years and feel accepted by the Amish.
The two-day festival featured antique tractors and steam engines, threshing and sawmill demonstrations, tractor parade, children's activities, vendors and food. All proceeds go to the local Amish school, Rolling Meadows.
Bontrager said his favorite activity was the tug-of-war between a draft horse and children.
A whip-cracking demonstration on Saturday attracted dozens of curious spectators. They learned that the whip's cracking noise comes from the whip moving faster than the speed of sound. One of the whips was 30 feet long.
One of this year's featured vendors was Sonshine Baskets, owned by Vernon and Elma Lehman of Millersburg. A small crowd gathered around while Vernon demonstrated the art of basketweaving.
Eddie Ray Borkholder of Bremen brought a one-quarter scale Rumley tractor with a threshing machine.
"A lot of times you have mockups like that, but they don't actually thresh," he said. "This machine actually threshes."
The threshing machine runs on an electric motor, but to onlookers it appears as if the belt fastened to the flywheel is powering the whole operation. However, that's just an illusion.
"It looks real, but it's not being pulled by this," he said.
Borkholder grew up working in the harvest fields, with the equipment powered by a Rumley.
"A Rumley just gets me going," he said. "It takes me back to my childhood."
He said people were very interested as they watched the contraption separate the wheat from the chaff.
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