New Holland Tractor Show, a laid-back morning in the village

 

[September 19, 2023] 

The Tremont First National Bank sponsored the annual New Holland Tractor Show on Saturday, September 16th. On this crisp morning, New Holland’s main drag was lined with all colors of tractors. Spectators could walk, sit, and learn from the owners of the tractors, participate in door prizes and drawings, and warm up with a cup of joe at the cafe.

Ron Harvey was there with his Minneapolis Moline 1958 G VI tractor. He told the story that started five or six years ago when he and his son traveled to Ohio for a large sale. He said that they didn’t have plans to buy anything, but doing what farmers do, they pulled an empty trailer behind the truck, just in case. Both Ron and his son found some treasures they couldn’t live without and loaded up the trailer with two tractors and some miscellaneous other items. Ron has always admired the Minneapolis Moline (MM) G XI because of its durability and uniqueness but never owned one. However, on this particular day, he became the owner of this MM G XI tractor and was even able to drive it on the trailer.

However, on the way home, the trailer experienced a flat tire, and the spare tire would not cooperate. Since the MM was the heaviest piece of machinery on the trailer, the only option was to unload it. Ron and his son met a gas station owner down the road, and he was kind enough to let him unload his new 10,000+ lb. tractor and watched over it until he returned a week or so later to bring it home. Ron has been working on the engine of this MM for a few years but chooses to keep the exterior as is, to show off the years of hard work and memories that this tractor has and will have in the years to come.

Darren Haberland was uptown to show off his John Deere tractor that he pulled out of a fence row 12 years ago. It took him two years to get it cleaned up, loosened up and the engine running. He enjoys going to parades and tractor shows, however the highlight for Darren is when he takes his 18-foot lawnmower trailer, puts 12 bales of hay in the middle, and pulls his family and friends around all over the countryside while everyone, but him, sips on hot chocolate.

Lynn Sheley has several tractors in his fleet but decided to bring his shiny Oliver 88, which he has owned for about 6 years to the show. There were several other tractors in the mix that helped complete the lineup of tractors, and hopefully, in years to come, there will be even more.

A little way down the road, was Wibben's trailer. He had a flatbed trailer filled with various sizes and kinds of ‘hit & miss’ engines.

Winners of the door prizes for the event were Ron Harvey, Darren Haberland, Andrew Coers, and Dave Rodgers.

The New Holland Café opens at 7 a.m., on Saturdays and provides many breakfast choices and steaming mugs of hot, fresh coffee. Like most places are right now, the Café was short-handed with one person doing an amazing job of taking orders, cleaning tables, and cooking all at the same time. The wait was short, the food was hot, tasty, and very affordable and the atmosphere was that old, calm, gentle conversation with your long-lost neighbor that you never really knew. When you have the New Holland Village Board President Annie Coers, and other town members pitch in and help clean tables and serve coffee, then you know that you are truly in a community-friendly town where helping one another is the only option.

Thank you to Tremont First National Bank, Central Illinois Ag, AHW for their sponsorship, the New Holland Village Board, Tractor Show participants, and the New Holland Café.

[JA Hodgdon]