FAITH AND FARMING ROOTS HELP BRING HOME NATIONAL WIN FOR SCHWIETERMAN GRANDCHILD

by Krista Norton | December 24, 2024

Many may remember as a kid playing with Hot Wheels, building a town, using items from around the house for buildings, or perhaps building a town outside in the dirt. But it is the kid with farming roots that added fences made from sticks, pulled grass and put in the fence for a make-believe pasture. 
One eleven-year-old, Jackson Brady, great grandson of Walter and Pauline Schwieterman has been doing just that. Jackson is the son of Kyle and Kyla (Schwieterman) Brady, Bushland, Texas, grandson of Kent and Tina Schwieterman, Syracuse, Bob and Jana Brady, Johnson. 

A friend of Kyle’s, Heath Henderson, organizes the toy side of the High Plains Toy & Antique Tractor Show in Canyon, Texas. “Toys are not only to buy and sell. There is also a display contest,” he said. 
“Heath suggested we build a display,” said Kyle. “We had been to the toy show in previous years, saw some local scenes other guys had made from the panhandle. Jackson saw those and wanted to build one himself.”

So, the work began! “I chose certain scenes because I have either seen it happen or it has happened before,” explained Jackson. 

His display is exclusive John Deere toys. “I like John Deere because it has been handed down for many generations,” said Jackson.“My grandpa Brady hauls cattle, my grandpa Bob used to custom cut with John Deere, and my grandpa Schwieterman has had John Deere on his farm.” 

But this display does not resemble the ones mentioned previously. His display has tractors just like Jackson has ridden, a tractor trailer rig with a cattle trailer like one he has ridden in with Grandpa Bob, a swather and bailer he has ridden in with Grandpa Schwieterman. All the buildings on the display were Kyle’s when he was a kid.

The display was complete and they set it up at the show in Canyon. Jackson’s display won first place. “One of the vendors sponsored a gift certificate for the first-place winner,” explained Kyle. “So when Jackson won, he received a gift certificate to that guys’ store. Some of the toys on there were purchased from his winnings from that vendor.

One of the guys that was at our toy show suggested we take his winning display to the National Toy show to compete, saying he was sure it would do well,” said Kyle. 

The National Toy Show’s application deadline is early June. 
“Only fourteen are accepted in the youth division, because it is held in a Catholic school gym and the space is limited,” said Kyle. 

His application was accepted so they set it back up in the garage after the local show and went to work perfecting the display. 

Imagine a pickup driving on a paved road pulling a flatbed trailer hauling an antique tractor. The pickup is entering Saint Isidore, a working farm and ranch. Jackson chose the name of his display, Saint Isidore, because it is the patron saint of farmers and ranchers. 

Kyla explained the kids attend a Catholic school and both she and Kyle are from Catholic families. “Jackson is deeply rooted in his faith and the saints, he wanted to bring that into his display.”  
The display features a log home with a trampoline in the front yard, the American flag flying, someone weed eating around the flowers, a person barbecuing in the back yard.  

Included in the display was a  muddy suburban created with a paint brush to make marks on it, water was then sprinkled on dry Nesquik to resemble mud being power washed by a person. 

Cattle in the corral are ready to be loaded in a truck. A truck is loaded with round bales while a swather  lays the hay down. A tractor is bailing the alfalfa while the irrigation sprinkler is parked nearby. 

The Matchbox size toys are carefully restored to be as realistic as possible. “We sent several items to be detailed by John Valek,” said Kyle. “He put toolboxes on the steps of the 4020, added canopies, and he took the cab off the swather, putting in a cooler and a driver inside.” 

Kyle is a surveyor. So they could not resist putting on a tripod and replicating dad’s job. There are tiny animals, snakes, pheasants, badgers, Saint Bernard dogs.  

The time had come for the one-thousand-mile trip to Dyersville, Iowa, “It measures three feet by six feet. We made a crate for it and hauled it to Iowa in an enclosed trailer,” said Kyle. 

Upon arrival they set the display up, which took about two hours, including a few repairs from traveling.
Jackson explained there were five judges. “Some asked questions while I was telling the story of my display. Why do you have that? Why did you do that? They wanted to make sure I knew about all the items on my display.” 

The judges also looked at overall completeness, his knowledge of the display and his  story, what is going on with the implements and crops, making sure the kids did the display themselves. 

“They judge off a point system, one is the best, fourteen is the worst, so small numbers are good,” said Jackson. “One judge was from Germany who had been attending the show several years. One year he brought a farm model in a suitcase and rebuilt it when he got there.”

Jackson received a second-place plaque, and won a raffle tractor, a collectable Allis Chalmers. “Since it wasn’t green, he was able to sell that tractor. With the money he won, he will purchase a 3-D printer, and save the rest for the model,” said Kyle. “The accessories are 3-D printed so he will be able to do those things himself.” 

“The show was a three-day ordeal,” explained Kyle. “Saturday alone, there were 4,000 people.There is a lot to see.” They left the hotel at 6:00 in the morning, returning around 9-10 at night. 
“We stayed at the display most of the time, and some tractor YouTubers came around. We hope we are on the channel and we are checking it daily!” said Kyle. 

“We wanted to engage people who may not be interested in tractors but nature and wildlife,” explained Kyla. People attending the show could participate in a scavenger hunt, as a way for them to look for items on the display. “I even found new things as I look at it!”   

They were able to go take in a few sights before coming home. In Dyersville, they visited the “Field of Dreams” movie set. Then to Waterloo, IA, to the John Deere Museum. “It was mainly tractors and the history behind them. From the first one to the most recent one, I learned a lot,” said Jackson. 
If you have toys, you know the Ertl name. Jackson had the opportunity to meet a successor to Ertl, Joseph Ertl, who ran the company for many years. 

Will he go back? As I was interviewing the family, that very morning they were setting up a space in the garage to start the next one. 

“We cannot bring the same display back the next year without making significant changes. So we are starting all over for the National Show that runs in November 2025,” said Kyle.

Jackson has a few ideas for the next display, possibly a historical scene, maybe in the late sixties or early seventies. His chore money goes towards investing in his hobby and when asked if he takes his toys out and plays with them in the dirt, he replied, “NO!” 

This project is a family affair. Younger brother Beau, age four, and sister Blair, age eight love to help. There is dirt to be sifted, weathering the buildings. “Lots of evenings and weekends are spent in the garage, and we also watch YouTube videos for ideas,” said Kyle.  

Their next local show is the High Plains Toy & Antique Tractor Show February 28-March 1, Canyon TX at the West Texas A & M Event Center. “I will not have my new display by then,” said Jackson. But he will display the one he entered in Iowa. 

Kyle invites everyone to come down. “We usually have seven to eight hundred people come through to see the over sixty antique tractors on display.” There is also a toy show in the pavilion, and a tractor pull in the covered arena next door.