1997 Boone Crank-Up Highlights

By Staff
Published on July 1, 1998
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Sec. Boone, North Carolina, Crank-Up 3841 Highway 421 S. Boone,
North Carolina 28607

On this cozy winter’s day as I look out the window, I think
back to our last show and write this report. It’s not too
difficult to imagine that it won’t be long until it’s show
time again. (That thought surely does make the blustery wind and
snow more tolerable, doesn’t it?) I suppose the reason for
remembering our last show so fondly is because we always have such
a good time. As I use the word ‘we,’ I think that pretty
much describes most everyone, club members and other
exhibitors.

Our club works hard and puts so much of themselves into the
show. They think that it is important to make people feel welcome
and at home. We want people to be able to relax and enjoy the show,
as well as the beautiful surroundings. Our show strives to bring
the simplicity of the past to the convenience of today; a way to
honour the past while participating in the present. This was
pointed out so well to us by Rev. Richard Holshouser during our
Sunday morning worship service last year when he said that he had
this show thing all figured out. He said, ‘The engine show is
just an excuse for the owners to get together for a reunion; they
sit, talk and visit while they listen to their engines
run.’

The Boone Show usually has something different every year. I
believe these events are sometimes planned, and sometimes
amazingly, they are spontaneous. For instance, this past year we
were fortunate to have, in addition to all the antique farm
machinery and tools, engines, steam stuff, tractors, antique cars,
etc., Kenneth Gochenour, a local Park Ranger who did a live
demonstration on Friday and Saturday of rail splitting. This was
most interesting and received a lot of attention. When he finished
splitting the logs, he then stacked them into an actual split rail
fence. He told us that he learned how to do this in the
sixties.

At the end of the show, a niece of mine and her family, received
most of the rails. The rails were loaded onto a pick-up truck,
taken on about a two-hour drive, and unloaded. She wrote me a note
a short time later saying that they finally got the logs arranged
into a fence, that it was a real chore, and it sure wasn’t as
easy as that guy made it look! They arranged them, and re-arranged
and re-arranged!

Another ‘hot event’ was the tractor parade. Last year
they were joined by the Antique Car Club of Hickory, North
Carolina, plus other classic cars and trucks. We even had three
generations of avid John Deere enthusiasts in the parade.

Mack Hodges, our club treasurer, drove his 1940 Model
‘L’ John Deere tractor while pulling a cart with daughter,
Lisa Watson and two-year-old grandson, Garrett, behind.

Another outstanding participant in the Saturday afternoon parade
was Brent Terry of Elizabethton, Tennessee, in what he described as
‘the Classic Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang Car.’

Of course, there’s also the regulars, such as the Hodges
clan, Kyle, John and Mack, who do frequent corn meal grinding
demonstrations, as a tribute to their father, Frank Hodges, who got
them started in this hobby. The cornmeal is used by Mrs. Kyle
(Brenda) and Mrs. Mack (Linda) and others in the food service area
to make fresh, hot cornbread. This is a favorite menu item along
with their pinto beans and chow-chow.

Although hurricane Danny and a flash flood watch were threats
the week of our show, the weather was sunny and hot. Due to the
beautiful weather, many of us wore a farmer’s tan evidence of
sun on exposed areas. However Sunday morning, I wakened to the
sound of a gentle rain. The fog and drizzle cleared by
mid-afternoon as everyone packed up and headed for home (or the
next show). I guess we just had to have a little ‘liquid
sunshine’ to make us appreciate the other kind.

My husband, John, always enjoys telling people that the Carolina
Fly-Wheelers Engine Club puts on a clean show; it usually rains
sometime during the show and washes everything clean!

Boone is a great place to be! Our mountains are beautiful no
matter what the season, no matter what the weather, no matter what
time of day, or which area you’re in. There is always something
going on in the High Country from the traditional events, such as
Horn in the West (America’s third oldest consecutive running
outdoor drama) to the first Herbal Festival. A slogan at the Horn
in the West grounds reads, ‘Saving yesterday for tomorrow,’
which ties in beautifully with what we’re all about.

Nicole Wise, along with her family, of Stanford, Connecticut,
recently visited our area for a skiing vacation. She later
published an article entitled, ‘Great Little Snow Towns’ in
the November, 1997 issue of Family Fun Magazine. She says that
Boone is a hidden gem because ‘it’s an hour and a half
drive from any major Interstate or the nearest major
airport.’

Although we may be a little difficult to get to, we think you
would enjoy our show once you do get here. Come join us for the
nineteenth annual High Country Crank-Up and have a mountaintop
adventure, ‘step back into a time when life was a lot less
complicated.’ The High Country Crank-Up, July 24, 25 and 26
will bring the joys of July to an end. The fairgrounds/raceway
grounds will open on Thursday. For more information contact: Ray
Scholl at 704-297-4406 or Betty Hodges 704-264-4977.

Please also see our ad in the 1998 Steam and Gas Show
Directory.

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