Photo courtesy of Ashley Harrison, Illumination Photography & Gallery Le Mars Toy Store has thrived for decades by aiming to preserve a bit of childhood wonder and nostalgia while also making a difference in the world. community and world at large in his own, unique way: by making a difference with toy tractors. One of the many programs he’s started includes providing children with a free $10 toy, which comes with a caveat; the children are required to take it to show-and-tell at school and then write a story about it, with the story returned to Schulz. “Our walls are full of stories from children, and they get that and a free $10 toy on their birthday,” he said. “We get people coming 200 to 300 miles, bringing their grandkids as a birthday present.” On top of that, Schulz said he also works with fire and rescue squads, not just locally in Le Mars but departments hundreds of miles away. He provides them with a pedal tractor and a list of rules on how to promote it and raise funds. And as a Shriner and two-time cancer survivor, Schulz said working with terminally ill children is also a critically important part of what both he and the Le Mars Toy Store does. With his adult life affording him the oppor tuni ty to accumulate his own collection of very real muscle tractors, Schulz said he got to know Dan Mecum and the Gone Farmin’ team over the years. Soon, Schulz was asked if he’d be interested in working with Mecum to raise money for Curing Kids Cancer, an opportunity that was in line with the values he had built at the Le Mars Toy Store and an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. “I, of course, said yes, because that’s just an honor for me to help out with,” he said. As such, Schulz and his team have been building a custom toy tractor for each Gone Farmin’ auction, with the proceeds from the sale going to the charity. “Last fall, when we were standing in front of that group and Grainne got teary-eyed, I said, put your arm around me, and we watched that tractor bring $35,000.” For this year’s Spring Classic, Schulz said they provided a 1/8-scale model of an International 1066 Open Station for the charity auction. The model is a custom design from Schulz and his team, based on a real tractor, and the tractor model has received the nickname “The White Ghost.” Schul z also br ings joy to Gone Farmin’ tractor enthusiasts through the 150 limited-edition, serial-numbered, commemorative tractors The Le Mars Toy Store offers for the Spring Classic and Fall Premier auctions. Schulz said that when a customer purchases one of the commemorative tractors, they get their own serial number, and as long as they continue to purchase the commemorat ive tractors every six months, they’ll keep that specific serial number for each tractor they add to their collection. However, if they decide not to continue their collection, that serial number becomes open to collectors on the waiting list . “I have people who have been on since day one, because it’s a part of their own personal series, and they cherish that number like they cherish that toy,” he said. “We’ve done this eight times for Mecum, but we’ve been doing it for the Plymouth County Fair for 23 years this way.” What started as a simple storefront display for an agricultural economics business in Le Mars, Iowa, has blossomed into the longstanding and loved Le Mars Toy Store, with enthusiasts coming from around the country and world to gaze upon its tractors. But, more impor tantly, it ’s become much more than a toy store for its owner, Albert Schulz, who said it’s led to opportunities to not only support the community, but in a much broader sense, those in need around the country and world as well. With the Gone Farmin’ Spring Classic in the rearview, those who were lucky enough to get their hands on one of this year’s commemorative tractors from Le Mars Toy Store are sure to cherish their new pieces, and those who placed their bids on this year’s charity piece can rest assured that they helped to make a difference in the world. MECUM.COM // 93
