GENTRY — It was again a busy weekend at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks show grounds south of Gentry last weekend in spite of the rain showers which dampened things during portions of the day on Friday and Saturday.

Club member Johnny Burger said some may have stayed away because of the rain but the show was probably the biggest ever in terms of those whocame out to see the old tractors, antique engines and the many equipment demonstrations.

“I don’t have an exact number,” Burger said, “but even on Saturday when we had rain showers, people were out there with their umbrellas running in the rain.”

Old tractors were lined up for showing and were also paraded past spectators in the Parade of Power held at noon each day.

The old sawmill was up and running and cuttinglogs, with the cut timber being finished in the mill’s planer.

In addition to the regular demonstrations on Friday, the Blacksmith Organization of Arkansas again came out on Saturday and demonstrated the metal-working art in the blacksmith shop which is outfitted just as smalltown blacksmith shops across the country were a century or more ago.

Numerous types and varieties of old engines and implements were ondisplay and demonstrated for visitors throughout the weekend show.

Sewing machines and a wide variety of other antique household goods and machines were shown and demonstrated in a newer building on the show grounds made to house and display everything from old cameras and movie projectors to kitchen ware and machines. Improvements continue to be made in the building, including enclosed show cases for some of the items.

Several vendors also set up booths and showed off their arts and crafts to visitors at the show. One vendor offered a wide variety of American-made tools.

The Siloam Springs High School FFA visited the show grounds on Friday, Burger said, and students had opportunity to see the old equipment and watch the demonstrations. Burger is hoping more schools will take advantage of the nearby educational shows and demonstrations andbring students on field trips to the special events held there each spring and fall.

The 18th Annual Spring Crankup and Swap Meet was open all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A church service was also held Sunday morning.

The show grounds are located between Gentry and Siloam Springs on Taylor Orchard Road. More information on the club, its meetings and its shows is available at www.tiredironoftheozarks.org.

News, Pages 9 on 04/21/2010