Sent to us by Harold R. Pollock 58825 Claysville Rd. Cambridge,
Ohio 43725
The second annual Freeland Valley Antique Power Show was held on
the Delmar Warne showfield, five miles east of Chandlersville,
Ohio, on July 31 and August 1.
More people than ever came to view the many antique farm
tractors and machinery and to watch demonstrations and contests and
the tractor pulls.
The weather cooperated nicely and it remained fair with low
humidity. There was plenty of eats as the Cumberland Volunteer Fire
Department had a food and pop trailer and they sold a lot of food.
The Cumberland Valley 4-H Club members and their parents made
oodles of lemon-shakes and 148 gallons of homemade ice cream which
quickly sold out. And this year the yellow jackets didn’t
bother them. They had a scare once when a bumblebee stung a girl.
Finally some brave man was able to get rid of it.
It was a thrill to watch Paul Brosie’s 16,615 1b. Russell 16
HP steam tractor charge the track at full steam ahead as it pulled
the sled. It must have been very reminiscent to an O.R.&. W.
steam locomotive charging up Freeland grade toward the tunnel.
There were two blacksmith forges in fire. George Richey and
Jerry Pollock made soup ladles and pieces of chain. Carl Wickham
and his two sons operated the other forge. Pete Snellman made
homemade brooms and had them on display and for sale. Jim and Mary
Ramsey had a lot of homemade crafts and baskets, as did Ileen
George. Melvin and Ruth Cubbison had crafts and flea market items
for sale. Holly Baughman had her homemade items on display, and she
also painted designs on
kid’s faces. Jeff Moore had a large selection of farm toy
tractors for sale and Allen Grudier displayed a lot of truck parts
and accessories. Jim Meister, of Bucyrus, had a large selection of
old farm tractor manuals and old car books for sale. He commented
he had been to a lot of shows like this but he had never seen a
double-tree-tractor-pull before. This was one of the features on
Saturday and it drew a large audience.
The crank-start tractor race was a lot of fun, especially when
the Herron brothers competed against each other. The pedal tractor
pull was great fun, too, and it just about brought everyone up to
the pulling track to watch it.
So many things were learning experiences, and it was fun to
watch Bill Fisher sharpen the teeth on the chiseltooth circular saw
for the Montgomery Ward Belsaw brand saw mill.
The wagon backing contest was great fun; Paul Brosie had a time
of backing his steam tractor and wagon, but he made it.
Some of the equipment on display was Glenn Deal’s Adams
Leaning Tree wheel grader, an early type of road grader. George
Richey had a grain binder there. Also there were the miniature
steam tractors owned by the Hatchers, and Harold Pollock’s
miniature straw bailer and Oliver bale press (hay baler). Larry
Warne had his large collection of antique farm tractors to admire
also.
There was a new swingset for the kids, and there were contests
such as the coin hunt in the saw dust and the balloon-breaking
contest. Richard McCaslin had his Starwalk station inflated for the
kids to bounce in. There were a couple of times when someone
accidentally tripped on the extension cord and the air pump quit,
thus the Starwalk collapsed a little. It is like a huge innertube,
but in the shape of a building. There is never any danger to the
kids when this happens, as it takes time for the thing to
deflate.
Saturday night the Green Valley Pickers provided the music for
the square dance that lasted until 11:30, and there were two sets
a-dancing.
There was a church service on Sunday morning. The Rev. T.
Everett Leedom gave a sermon on John 3:16 ,and his preaching was
even better than Billy Graham’s, and I am not kidding! Rev.
Leedom also told about his having lived 42 years of his life in
Rich Hill Township and that it was good to be back. He was raised
just over the ridge from where he preached that morning.
After the services, demonstrations got underway again, and there
was a parade at 3 p.m. that was begun by Boyd Kennedy on his
Farmall H tractor.
And then the big tractor pull started at 4 p.m. and lasted until
12:30 a.m., but I checked out at about 9:30 p.m., and was so happy
for all I had seen and all the many folks I had talked to and I
thought, ‘My cup runneth over,’ and I can’t wait until
next year.
The show dates for 1994 are July 30 and 31.