[AT] Portland report

[Indiana Robinson]

	Well, it is over for another year... As usual I had a great time but this time my feet 
stayed pretty dry and unlike last year I never got into knee deep water and I didn't 
suffer any alligator attacks going back to the "great Dismal Swamp" after the empty 
trailer.  :-)
	Someone (I forget just who) described the event well when they said that we had a 
reunion with a tractor show going on in the background. Those who just attend the show 
and do not come and spend evenings around the campfire have no idea how terribly much 
they miss out on.
	It is worth the effort if for nothing more than seeing what kind of pyrotechnic marvel 
the "Dotson Gang" comes up with each year for the campfire. This year Larry brought a 
unit that really sucked... Well... it used to... It was a large shop vac in a former 
life. In its current life it exist as a red glowing beast from hell...   :-)   The folks 
at Portland say that all fires must be at least 10" up off of the ground. They failed to 
put a maximum height limit on fires and since the sky was the limit Larry tried several 
times to exceed that. When he fired up the "super-charger" and turned the whole thing 
into a huge blast furnace with flames and flashing sparks roaring hundreds of feet into 
the air that vac looked to be equal to the largest volcano around. Ok, the largest 
volcano in Indiana...  ;-)
	Gene did a great job as wagon-master and I understand he has obtained some added beach-
front real estate for us for next year.
	Reba did her usual good job as "Top Dog" and kept things under control. One of the dogs 
from one of the "Brown" trailers did take top honors in the high jump this year.
	The Friday dinner provided by the Browns was truly top notch as we have come to expect.
	We may want to consider next year making "Checkers" the clown an honorary ATIS member. 
He seems to enjoy his visits to our camp area. Maybe Barb Dotson ("the button queen") can 
make him a button.   :-)
	Some folks didn't like the new layout and I must say that I wasn't too excited about it 
either but I will take a wait and see approach to it all. Those folks at Portland put an 
awful lot of hard thankless work into a great show and I wouldn't want to complain since 
I do a lot more receiving than giving there each year. I never did get around to seeing 
all of the engines this year since they were so spread out. Heck, I never even saw "Evil 
Dave" at all this year. I usually at least see him at the picture taking on Friday. I do 
understand however that a number of camera makers had asked him this year to only take 
pictures but to not pose for any...  (Hi Dave)   :-) 
	At one point I was near the ATIS tractor spot and I looked over across the way and 
thought a tornado was upon us but when we walked over for a closer look I realized that 
it was a Prairie Gold MM-BF out in the field plowing and throwing dirt high in the air. 
Once the worst of the dirt settled to the ground I spotted Steve Sewell in the drivers 
seat. I might also mention that there was a couple of those green and yaller things at 
the show since they were the feature tractor. There must have been at least a half dozen 
of them. Most folks seemed to be trying to avoid them as best they could.    ;-)
	  There were some problems in the swap meet (parts) area but after a time most folks 
figured out how to walk on dry ground instead of mud and things then went OK.
	One rather interesting tractor at the show was a MF-165 that had an Allis Chalmers W 
series attack and had gone all lopper-jawed. It had extreme floatation tires and was 
built with an offset at the rear axle. On it the driver sat off to the left.
	Hey George... You are not going to believe this but someone took one of those one wheel 
Choremaster garden tractors and made a butt buggy out of it... What an original and novel 
idea...   ;-)   ;-)   ;-)

	All of our driving to and from the show and hauling was trouble free and we spent a 
great time with good friends old and new. What more could you ask for?
	Well, maybe lower gas prices.   :-)   $2.49.9 at Muncie IN.
		  

-- 
"farmer", Esquire
At Hewick Midwest
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...

Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana. In America 100 
years 
before the revolution.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net