Peerless!

City Mouse Now Country Mouse

No. 4

Can you guess what this end cap is attached to? OK--so unless you are a farmer or a devotee of antique farm equipment, it's a tough question. On the last day of August, Aaron and I went to the 54th annual Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association Fall Show. I am guessing you might wonder how we ended up at this show; here's the story. 

Aaron grew up going to the steam show Sycamore, IL. This was an annual family event and it was such a favorite that Aaron and his father bought a 1936 A John Deere row crop tractor to work on in between shows. I am sitting on a similar, somewhat newer, one here. There were over 750 steam engines, tractors (steam and gas powered), and lawn mowers. The shows obviously featured the equipment but it also featured food, fun and fellowship.

We arrived about 3 pm so we would have time to see the entire show before the main evening event: the tractor parade. As we drove through the fairground gates, I noticed that there were rows and rows of tractors lined up and that there were several large fields full of equipment. I looked down at my zebra stripped flats--cute but not exactly field shelping wear--and was thankful that the ground was dry. 

We started our afternoon by watching the steam engine powered sawmill demonstration. It was fascinating to watch them position, cut and reposition the wood until the entire log was cut into board planks ready for construction. This was particularly timely for me as I had just heard new stories from my Mom about my grandfather's work in the lumber industry in the late '20's and '30's. I'll tell those stories later.

Whoopie Pie!

Aaron always talked about the food at the steam show and we planned to eat dinner at the fairgrounds. His childhood favorites were the custom pork chops and the butter-dipped corn. The PA fair featured BBQ, burgers, dogs and picnic fixings. We opted for the pork BBQ and snagged a cone of fries from the Boardwalk vendor on the other side of food pavilion. The sweet ending to our dinner was the Whoopie pie for dessert. I had heard about these delicious cakes but neither of us had ever eaten one. I think Aaron's face says it all: DE-LISH!

The fairgrounds began to swell with visitors the closer it got to 6 pm and the start of the tractor parade. We settled for a spot near the old steam engines and at the intersection between the old and new equipment. As we waited for the parade to begin, it was obvious to me that many of the attendees at the show knew each other. They swapped handshakes, back slaps (for the men) and air kisses (for the women), and lots and lots of laughs. In the way that we were visitors, they were family. 

I've included a few more pictures here of the steamers that we saw. It was amazing to see people of all ages driving these large pieces of equipment. And some were even holding babies or dogs! The parade lasted about 75 minutes and they started with the oldest equipment first. These steam engines were farm machines that were built between 1885 and 1925. I found it interesting that most of the old engines were built within short (200 miles) distance from the fairgrounds but after some thought realized that there few national brands then. The parade included lawnmowers, which I found hysterical as I don't really consider that in the same class as the rest of the equipment (as if that matters!). In the end, there were over 320 'vehicles' that participated. 

Blue Moon Tractor Pull

The event ended with the tractor pull. The picture features the Blue Moon, so second moon this month and the last blue moon we'll have until 2015. It was a perfect end to an adventure filled day.