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The original plowing match association was established in 1877
to sponsor an annual plowing competition, Ladies Fair and Food
Tent. For the next 100 years, farmers and rural enthusiasts from
miles around came to observe and participate in the competitions
and enjoy delicious foods at the popular Wheatland Plowing
Match. By 1977, the corporation was established
to maintain the Plowing Match Association. Funds lay idle,
but a new purpose and direction from many of its members took
shape. By 1981, a committee made up of area
farmers, including members of WPMA, was formed to help solicit donations
from area farming communities for what is now known as the
Naperville "Riverwalk" The
"Farmers Committee" held its first fund-raising pig
roast on Labor Day, September 7, 1981 at the rural Naperville
Township home of Wilbert and Ruth Hageman. After
publicizing the event at the Naperville Labor Day Parade with a
float featuring an Antique Walking Plow -- followed by six huge,
modern farm tractors -- the Farmers Committee 1st Pig Roast
attracted more than 500 guests later that day. On
September 3, 1984 the "Farmers Plaza" monument,
complete with the names of the 331 area farm families and topped
by the same antique walking plow featured in the 1981 parade,
was dedicated at the southwest corner of Eagle Street and the Du
Page River Bridge in Naperville.
The Riverwalk became the site of the 6th Annual "Farmer's
Pig Roast" event in 1986. Although a pig roast was
not held in 1987, the event was revived by the Naperville
Heritage Society in 1988, and held at the Naperville Settlement
through 1990. The completed riverwalk Farmer's
Committee and the original Wheatland Plowing Match Association
found themselves becoming increasingly concerned about the
rapidly disappearing farm land in the area. The group soon
agreed to combine their efforts, knowledge and funds to form a
new organization, dedicated to the preservation of the area's
rural heritage. As a result, the "New" Wheatland
Plowing Match Association was formed in 1990 to include the once
exclusively rural townships of Wheatland, Du Page, Lisle,
Oswego, Plainfield, and Naperville. The New
Wheatland Plowing Match Association held its first "Farmers"
Pig Roast in 1991, and has continued in the tradition ever
since. WPMA readily accepts contributions from
local businesses and organizations, as well as individual
interested in preserving the agricultural heritage of the
Naperville community. WPMA is recognized as a 501C3
organization for charitable contributions. |
