GENTRY -- Visitors to the Tired Iron of the Ozarks 30th annual fall show last weekend got a taste of how things used to be done in the rural farming communities of the area just a few generations ago.
In addition to the antique tractors and engines of the early to middle 20th century, visitors got to watch blacksmiths at work, heating iron to red-hot temperatures and then pounding and twisting the softened metal into shape. Featured on Saturday were a group of blacksmiths from the Blacksmiths of Arkansas, demonstrating the art that supplied many of the tools and implements of 19th and 20th century America.
At noon the tractors lined up for the daily Parade of Power, with the various tractors and drivers introduced by the club's announcer and driven past those gathered at the grandstands.
Youngsters got the opportunity to make rope from colored strands of bailing twine and construct buildings with wooden blocks. They could sit atop the giant tricycle made with tractor tires and a tractor seat and ride around the showgrounds in
the Tired Iron train. Many were given the opportunity to sit in the driver's seat of tractors on display at the annual show.
Household machines and tools were on display in the club's home antique building so that visitors could see how many tasks were performed around the house in years past. The collections included numerous sewing machines, kitchen tools, and other household and farm appliances.
All in all, it appears that visitors to the club's fall show enjoyed their trip back in time and the many lessons learned from America's local history. And those who displayed old engines and tractors or worked in the blacksmith shop had the opportunity to visit with other like-minded enthusiasts and exchange ideas, skills and information.
The show began on Friday and continued through Sunday.
Tired Iron of the Ozarks is a nonprofit organization with a 17-acre showground in rural Gentry. The club puts on two shows a year -- one in the spring and one in the fall -- and both are free to the public.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Wayne Templeton, of Van Buren, starts a 1 1/4 HP engine, used as a pump jack to pump water, at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks showgrounds on Friday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Among the tractors on display at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks showgrounds on Friday was this 1942 John Deere belly mower.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Hay rakes were parked on the Tired Iron of the Ozarks showgrounds on Friday, following a mowing of the parking area.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Pam and Jerry Marsh, of Farmington, look at a peanut picker on the Tired Iron of the Ozarks showgrounds on Friday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Carl Woods turns the handle on a milk separator in the household antiques building at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks showgrounds on Friday, following a mowing of the parking area.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL An old engine pumps water, running down the face of the cooler, at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks show on Friday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL While Joe Commerford of Huntsville (left) looks on, Joe Doster, also of Huntsville, heats up the piece of iron Commerford is working on during the Blacksmiths of Arkansas demonstration at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show on Saturday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL While Joe Commerford of Huntsville (left) looks on, Joe Doster, also of Huntsville, heats up the piece of iron Commerford is working on during the Blacksmiths of Arkansas demonstration at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show on Saturday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Randy Haven of the Eureka Springs area heats up a piece of iron for shaping on the anvil at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show in Gentry on Saturday. He was one of many Blacksmiths of Arkansas members who attended the show to demonstrate the blacksmithing art.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL An antique Farmall tractor with cultivators passes by in the Parade of Power at noon on Saturday at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show in Gentry.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Kreelynn Payne, 4, of Ft. Gibson, Okla., makes a rope with an antique rope-making maching at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show in Gentry on Saturday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Kreelynn Payne, 4, of Ft. Gibson, Okla., makes a rope with an antique rope-making maching at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show in Gentry on Saturday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Deola Allen of Lampe, Mo., sits atop the giant tricycle at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show in Gentry on Saturday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Emalyne Campbell, 12, of Springdale, sits atop the giant tricycle at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show in Gentry on Saturday.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL A favorite of children brings up the rear of the Saturday noon Parade of Power at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks fall show in Gentry.
Westside Eagle Observer/RANDY MOLL Larry Philpott, of Gentry, cooks burgers for showgoers at the Tired Iron of the Ozarks showgrounds on Friday.