A Story of a Young Man’s Dedication

By Staff
Published on November 1, 1990
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Young Mikulanis in midst of the restoration process.
Young Mikulanis in midst of the restoration process.
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11863 Serena Road Lakeside, California 92040

This is a story of a young man’s dedication to hard work and
the realization of seeing his project finished, and being admired
by his friends.

About three years ago, I was working in one of the small
back-country towns east of San Diego and noticed an old tractor
sitting on a rock in the middle of a field. I went over to look at
it and found out that it was an Oliver Hart Parr 18-28. I’m
relatively new to the ‘sport’ of old iron collecting and
didn’t recognize the names Oliver or Hart Parr. I made an offer
on the tractor to the fellow who owned it, he accepted, and before
I knew it I was the proud owner of a tractor I had never heard
of.

The tractor had been rolled over, the exhaust pipe was bent, the
fenders were bent, and the left tires were gone; but the last owner
said it ran.

The next Saturday, I rented a trailer big enough to haul it, and
my 10 year-old son and I went to pick it up. When he saw it he was
really excited, and couldn’t wait to get it home. On the way
home he asked a question that most wives ask, ‘What are you
going to do with it?’ I asked him, ‘Why?’ and he said
he wanted it. I made him a deal. If he scraped, scrubbed, cleaned,
banged, fixed, and painted it, he could have it. Like I said, that
was three years ago. This year he finished it. With only a little
help and a lot of bank roll from me, he stuck to it for those three
years and now he has a completed project that he can be proud of.
He entered it as a 4-H project this spring at the Eastern San Diego
County Junior Fair and won the Grand Champion Award in the
‘Exhibitor’s Choice’ category. It was noticed there and
he was asked to display it at the Del Mar Fair, San Diego’s big
summer fair. I also drove it in a parade for him this year. On the
next page is an assignment he had to do for 6th grade English
class. He was to write a fairy tale and he decided to write one
about his tractor.

He is really proud of his tractor, as well he should be. I’m
proud of him for his accomplishments and dedication. It’s real
important to get the younger generation involved now so they will
stay with it and be the future of the ‘old iron’ hobby. He
will be 13 years old this fall and I hope I can keep his interest
going in our hobby for many years to come. We want to thank
everyone that was kind enough to answer our letters and furnish us
with a small library of information about the tractor.

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