DECATUR — Tired Iron of the Ozarks is gearing up for its 19th annual fall show this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the club’s show grounds at 12244 Taylor Orchard Road in Gentry.
The show opens at 8 a.m.
each day and admission is free. It will feature a multitude of antique engines, tractors and tools, plus plenty of fun and educational exhibits and demonstrations for children of all ages, according to club president Glenn Smith.
A special new piece of equipment on display this year will be a one-of-a-kind horse-drawn brush hog from 1912. The machine, made by the Shubert Sprout Mower Company in Richland, Mo., was nicknamed an iron goat, Smith said.
Smith first saw the machine when he was 16 years old. His father sent him on an errand to the sawmill.
The sawmill’s owner, Kenyon Wright, showed him the machine, which he had traded for a calf.
Last year - some 50 years later - Smith went back to the sawmill and found the machine sitting in the same spot. The owner agreed to donate it to the club, and club members recovered and restored it. The club took the 98 year old brush hog to the Benton County Fair, where fair attendees said they had never seen anything like it, according to Smith.
Machinery from the early 1900s is extremely rare, because most of it was used for scrap metal during World War II, club member John Burger explained. All of the brush hog parts are original, and some of the design features are totally unique, such as small holes in the chain links so they can be greased, Smith and Burger said.
“This is a very rare piece to have. We are very fortunate to have it,” Burger said.
Some of the other attractions will include a home antiques building with 100-year-old household items on display, Smith said.
Children can try out some of the antiques for themselves, as they learn about they way things used to be done through the hands-on exhibits throughout the weekend.
Children especially enjoy digging in corn with a handoperated back hoe, Smith said.
Visitors will also be able to watch two antique sawmills in operation, as well as antique wheat threshing and hay baling machines in action.
On Saturday, a blacksmiths' club will be inside the fully operational blacksmith’s shop showing how tools and other implements are made out of iron.
Another popular attraction is the “Can you guess what it is,” wall. The wall has more than 113 antique tools - everything from farming tools to kitchen utensils. Visitors spend a lot of time guessing what the tools are for, and Smith keeps a notebook with the answers handy. But there are some tools that are still unidentified and Smith is waiting for someone to recognize them.
While the show is a lot of fun, it is also about something much deeper. It provides a way to protect yesterday's heritage and traditions for the next generation.
“It’s all about preservation,” Smith said.
Schedule of Events◊Home antique building open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
◊Blacksmith’s shop - Friday exhibitions at 9 a.m., 11 a.m.
and 3 p.m. Blacksmiths of Arkansas will be giving demonstrations all day Saturday, and Sunday the shop will be open for visitors.
◊Engine powered saw mill demonstrations will be held each day at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
◊Threshing demonstrations will be held from 9 to 9:30 a.m. and from 2 to 2:30 p.m., daily.
◊The parade of power will be held each day at noon.
◊The Kiddy pedal tractor pull will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday at the bleachers.
◊Tractor games will be held at 2 p.m. daily.
◊A Church service will be held at 10 a.m., Sunday.
◊Breakfast will be served from 7 a.m. until 10 a.m.
◊Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
News, Pages 2 on 09/08/2010