100 Cedar Drive Enterprise, Alabama 36330
The Dixie Flywheelers eighth annual Pioneer Peanut Days Show was
held on October 23 and 24, 1993, at the beautiful Landmark Park,
Dothan, Alabama. This show was sponsored by the Alabama Peanut
Producers Association and Radio Station WDJR-FM.
Landmark Park is a reconstructed 1890s living history farmstead
of one hundred acres. It has a one-room schoolhouse, a log house, a
1907 Presbyterian Church, a blacksmith shop, an 1,800 foot
boardwalk, nature trails, a picnic area, wildlife exhibits, an
interpretive center, a planetarium, and much more. The Pioneer
Peanut Days Show is just one of many events that take place here
throughout the year. There is something of interest for the whole
family.
Saturday started off with a light rain, lasting until
mid-morning. Still, fifty-two exhibitors showed up with
eighty-seven engines, eleven tractors, three hay balers, two
stationary peanut pickers, a peanut shelter, a cane mill, a hammer
mill and old tool displays.
Using much of the above equipment, we harvested peanuts the way
it was done fifty or more years ago. The peanuts were dug and
stacked in the field to dry. Then, a stationary peanut picker was
belted up to a tractor and the peanut stacks were brought to the
picker by a mule team. The peanut vines were fed into the picker by
pitchfork. At this point, they were separated from the vine. The
vines were then put through a hay baler. Three of these
demonstrations were held on Saturday, and two on Sunday
afternoon.
An added attraction this year was Bill Orr’s big,
two-cylinder, 120 HP Fairbanks Morse diesel engine. Bill and Mike
Peters started it and ran it several times each day. This huge
two-cycle engine, having a twelve inch bore and fifteen inch
stroke, powered a cotton gin in Headland, Alabama, until the early
1960s. It is eight feet tall, twelve feet long and weighs over
16,000 pounds.
Each exhibitor received a quart of oil, a show button, a plaque,
a ten ounce can of salted peanuts (courtesy of the Alabama Peanut
Producers Association), and a free 1994 membership to the Dixie
Flywheelers Association.
Our next Pioneer Peanut Days Show at Landmark Park will be
October 22 and 23, 1994- For more information, contact Landmark
Park, P.O. Box 6362, Dothan, Alabama 36302 or phone (205) 794-3452.
Y’all come!
