[AT] Slow and steady goes the tractor parade

CEE VILL cvee60 at hotmail.com
Mon Oct 29 16:02:04 PDT 2007


Thanks for the report, Mike.  Always good to hear about people having a good time with old tractors.
 
Charlie V., with frost scraper in hand.> > [This is a follow-up to the article I sent previously about the NJ > tractor parade. There was no image in the on-line version, but maybe I > will actually buy a copy of the paper and see if there is one I can post > on my Fotki album. MS]> > Slow and steady goes the tractor parade> Equipment stretches for 2 miles along 12-mile route during inaugural > Tractorcade America.> Monday, October 29, 2007> By EDWARD SIEGER> The Express-Times> > KNOWLTON TWP. | The trip from Belvidere to the Knowlton Township Fire > and Rescue building really shouldn't take that long. After all, it's > only about 13 miles, Frank Van Horn said Sunday.> > But when your mode of transportation is a tractor that caroms along at 7 > or 8 mph that quick drive becomes a journey.> > "One guy drove three hours before he even got to the parade," Van Horn > joked.> > About 100 tractors -- some arriving by flatbed -- converged Sunday for > what organizers dubbed Tractorcade America, highlighting New Jersey's > farming heritage.> > Van Horn said he hoped for maybe 25 or 30 tractors after planning the > first-time event for about four months. But the tractors and about 200 > participants stretched almost 2 miles along the nearly 12-mile route. > Farmers from New York, Hamburg, Pa., Marlboro, N.J., and the Delmarva > Peninsula attended the event.> > Van Horn's brother-in-law, Terry Svenson, suggested the event. A native > Nebraskan, Svenson said similar events would last for two or three days > and cover 120 to 150 miles in the Midwest.> > After the parade, farmers and their families sat side-by-side in the > fire station, sharing stories and a chicken meal that benefited the fire > department.> > As he ran the 50/50 raffle with the flair of a carnival barker, Van Horn > introduced a farmer who made the trip from Downingtown, Pa.> > "In fact, he's been up here twice," Van Horn said. "He must have been > bored."> > When dinner was over, people walked by Van Horn shaking his hand and > clapping him on the shoulder, thanking him for a great day.> > The tractors parked outside the fire station -- some dating back to the > 1930s and 1940s -- and the farming families who joined in the procession > represent "a snapshot of America," Van Horn said.> > "I've always said that if I had to go to heaven it would be with these > guys," he said. "They really are the salt of the earth."> > Before retiring to Florida four years ago after more than 30 years > working for the state of New Jersey, Bill Gardner sold his 1941 Farmall > A tractor to Svenson.> > The tractor ran well, but the paint was faded, showing its age. When > Gardner arrived for the parade earlier this week, Svenson surprised him > with a refurbished 1941 Farmall to ride in the parade.> > "I was flabbergasted," Gardner said. "It looks brand new."> > Gardner, who grew up in a farming family in Pohatcong Township, said the > event is a good way to remind people of the country's farming history.> > "They told me they were doing it again next year, so I said, 'Sign me > up,'" he said.> _______________________________________________> AT mailing list> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
_________________________________________________________________
Peek-a-boo FREE Tricks & Treats for You!
http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us



More information about the AT mailing list