But in the afternoon, we were required to attend the SEMO District Fair. The Southeast Missouri area event is held every year to both showcase the efforts of young 4-H people and to provide some much needed diversion in these Dog Days of Summer. We decided to join the fun.
As befits a country fair, the first area that we entered was a display of antique and unusual farm equipment.
These little hit-and-miss engines, looking a lot like angry snails, were once used to power small equipment. A gentleman tending them told us that they were used to drive a belt that operated washing machines. Wow! Noisy!
This 1930 Massey Harris four wheel drive tractor has been restored by George "Dude" Huey...
Every display of old farm equipment has to include an example of the collaboration between Ford Motor Company and the Ferguson Company. This 1950 model has been restored to exact original specs, according to it's owner, who lives in Jackson, MO, just a few miles north of Cape Girardeau. It's just like the one I had fun on as a kid!
From big...
to small....
they had them all!
As we left the tractor display, we happened upon a wood-fired steam tractor being lovingly attended by its owner, who moved it about the area....very slowly, I might add.
Our next stop was the food area...of course...where we noticed a young lady making curly fries out of whole spuds with a drill driven device. She had the process down to a science, doing a whole bowl of fries in about 10 seconds. Every once in awhile she would add a small potato to the bowl if the first one didn't quite fill it up, then she would spin the bowl over to the guy frying them. Voila! In a few more seconds another $6 order was served up to a hungry customer who could add condiments to their taste. Near as I could tell, this booth was doing business at the rate of about $300 an hour!
At 6:30 or so, corn dogs in hand, we made our way to the grandstand, where we had previously bought trackside seating for the "DeWitt Auction/D&S Salvage Hot Rod Truck & Tractor Pull". Having seen such events on television (generally on obscure midwest cable channels), and enjoying the noise, dust, and competition, we had to check this out!
This was a sanctioned ITPA event (International Tractor Pulling Ass'n), with several of the "big boys" in attendance. We were fortunate to sit next to a local farmer who told us that he follows these events every season all across the midwest. Josh is one of three sons taking care of Dads farm. They have a small farm, 5,000 acres, where they grow corn for sileage (cattle food), run a few hundred head of cattle, and have an egg production facility where they have 58,000 chickens, laying roughly one egg a day! The operation is automated, as you might expect, with the only human interaction being to maintain the process, and place the hens into or take out of their pens. Seems a bit cruel, but most of us enjoy eggs, either in our food where we can't see them, or on the plate with a slice of ham, so here's the reality....eggs come from chickens. BTW: Donna told me that a dozen eggs cost 36 cents in the store yesterday.....
As the local boys began to line up, the announcer recited a moving prayer asking for a safe and enjoyable event, as well as including our country and leaders in a request for wisdom.
Our seats were in the center of the track at the 150 foot mark of the 300 foot long track and immediately in front of the announcers booth, so we had a great view of the pulls.
As darkness fell, the first class began to compete. Unfortunately, this guy didn't get very far before setting something on fire!
The sled that the trucks and tractors pull is an ingenious arrangement involving a sliding weight that smoothly applies more weight to the front of the sled as the vehicle pulls it down the track. Eventually the laws of physics apply, and the sled digs into the track to a point that the truck or tractor can't pull it any longer.
Among others in this class, Comminsized Out,
and Cross Wired put on a good show!
Pretty soon, the action moved on to the exhibition class, where "The Russler", driven by Russ from Edmonds, IL, showed us how a helicopter turbine engine can pull.
Then we moved on to another class. I can't pretend to know what all the weight classes are, but our farmer friend kept us abreast of what was running, who would do well, and who would win. Nice to have a personal commentator! I wish we could post pics of all the competitors, but space limits. This well prepared tractor, named "Keeps Takin' Money", did well.
While we didn't stay for the entire event (we left at 11:30), we did see several super-modified tractors run.
The first five places in each class return to pull again, with more weight added to make the run more difficult. Relentless was the top finisher is it's class, so would return. I hoped to stay to see the second run, but it was not to be.
The weather was great for an evening at the fair, and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. We missed the 4-H Horse Show, the music of the Back Alley Deckos, and the Pedal Tractor Pull, but we had fun anyway! With all that diesel engine smoke wafted through the air, we figured out why the announcer kept referring to "rolling coal"!
After getting to bed about 1:00 am, we were up and ready to roll at 7 ish, since we had 267 miles to cover to arrive at Osage Beach RV Park, in Osage Beach, MO. Located near Lake of the Ozarks, this park is a favorite summer vacation spot. After a bit of moving, we settled into site 51, and hooked up. This is an old KOA that is being refurbished by new owners. They have a bit of work to do....the sites are not level, the site drainage is nonexistent, and the wifi cannot be found....anywhere. But it is a quiet park, and our friends are only three sites away. Life is good!
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