Early Wheels donates to Aviation Museum

The Iowa Aviation Museum received a $3,200 donation last Wednesday from an organization that has prided itself on giving back to the local community in Greenfield for what it has done for them.

Early Wheels of Iowa, the organization which previously organized the Greenfield Swap Meet, is dissolving due to an aging and dwindling membership.

A part of the dissolution process is donating the club’s funds to worthy causes.

“We wanted to make sure we showed our appreciation. Our club donated a lot of our funds back to the Greenfield area. That was one of our main stipulations — that we tried to put as much money back into the Greenfield area that we could,” said Past President Forrest Harmsen. “We are dissolving. The group just got to be too old, it was too much to handle. We wanted to make sure these funds came back to the Greenfield area because they’ve always treated us well.”

About four years ago, Early Wheels made its intentions known that they would eventually no longer be able to hold the swap meet. A group of locals stepped in to form a group of their own to keep the large event going each September. That group, and a few others, will also be receiving donations from Early Wheels in the near future.

Harmsen said Greg Schildberg, who is president of the Iowa Aviation Museum Board, and his family’s business, have been a big help to the swap meet through the years, whether that was helping serve pancakes at the event or lending them green space for parking. Harmsen has attended nearly every swap meet in Greenfield since it came here in the late 1980s.