History of Tri-County Sportsmen Club, INC

Tri-County Sportsmen Club was organized in 1985.

Purchased the Club property on 06/30/1999.

Old Farm photo

“The Old Farm”

Riniker Homestead picture

Fishing pond was constructed in the year 2000.

Fishing pond

Rifle Range was constructed in the year 2012.

Rifle range

Joined the Forest Reserve program in the year 2013.

Tree Farm sign

Joined the Pollinator program in the year 2018.

Picture of Pollinator fields

Became a non-profit organization in the year 2023.

Participated in the Iowa DOT Adopt-A-Highway program for the past 30 years.

Our first President retires.

TH story
TH story
Ed Lukan memorial bench

In 2024 the pond was drained and reconstructed. In 2025 the docks were replaced, and fish were stocked.

Tumble Bug Dirt Scraper

The “Tumble bug” rotary or roll-over dirt scraper pictured above was recently found in the “weeds” on the property. These type scrapers were pulled with tractors and were popular in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. It was a great improvement over the earlier horse drawn “pan” scrapers. We believe it may have been used by the Riniker and/or Hefel families to construct some of the farm lanes and dirt grades that you see on the Club property today. It is on display along the east side of the pond. A search on YouTube for tumble bug scrapers show how they work.

The story below is about the grading of the baseball diamond in the City of Luxemburg which was located just south of the Holy Trinity Church in 1949. There is no way of knowing, but we like to think our dirt scraper could have been one of the 15 to 20 scrapers used during that volunteer work. Fun stuff in history!

Tumble bug dirt scraper story