3122 Appleton, Parsons, Kansas 67357
The 11th annual South east Kansas Old Time Gas Engine and
Tractor Club Show was held June 26, 27, 1999, in Pittsburg, Kansas
at the Crawford County Historical Society Museum grounds.
Featured tractor this year was John Deere. We again had
exhibitors from around the four states of Kansas, Missouri,
Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
The weather was hot again this year, which held our crowds down
in the afternoons, but there was a good turnout during the
mornings.
A new feature this year was a free hamburger-fry on Saturday
night for the exhibitors and their families, it was much
appreciated by the exhibitors and will be continued at future
shows.
While making the rounds and meeting the non-club member
exhibitors, I had the chance to meet and visit with Mr. John
Shipps, of Iola, Kansas, who was showing a 1919 Moline Universal
tractor restored by his son Gary Shipps, from Tecumseh, Kansas.
John made the comment that he was glad his son had chosen this
tractor to restore and display, since John and his brothers had
grown up operating one of them. He said they had no trouble
adapting to the tractor, even though their dad wasn’t quite so
quick to shift from horses to tractor power. John said one of their
neighbors had watched this change and decided it was time for him
to change also, so he bought a Moline Universal, too. Not long
after this John said the neighbor came over and offered to sell his
tractor to John’s father.
His father declined since he already had one, but the neighbor
was insistent about making the sale. He finally told John’s dad
he had to buy the tractor because each time he came to the end of a
row he would holler ‘whoa’ and nothing would happen, and if
John’s father didn’t buy the tractor he wouldn’t have a
fence left! Apparently this was enough to convince John’s
father to help out his neighbor because the deal was made, and John
and his brothers grew up with two Moline Universals to farm
with.
The above story is just one more reason that host club members
need to visit with exhibitors to make sure they are enjoying the
show, and to offer any help that might be needed. While doing this,
you might make a new friend or learn something about our hobby.
Our show for 2000 will be held June 24 and 25 at the museum
grounds. We hope to see you there.
