Annual event runs Saturday, Sunday at Three Sisters Park
Few things are free in life, but Farm Heritage Days Saturday and Sunday at Three Sisters Park is, thanks to the 3 Sisters Antique Tractor Club.
Third-year club president Kevin Engquist said he is excited that this year, the first time the club has been in control of the show, there will be no gate admission.
“We’re not about making money,” said Engquist. “We just want people to come out and enjoy, as hokey as that sounds.”
As one more goodwill gesture for the Chillicothe community, Engquist invites all attendees to bring canned goods to the club’s tent on the grounds either day.
The club will coordinate with area food pantries to make sure the donations go to people who need them the most.
“It’s just another way to give back to the community a lot of us call home,” said Engquist.
Featured in this year’s show is a 1924 Minneapolis steam engine shown by the Martin brothers of Will County.
Engquist said when 10 of the 3 Sisters Antique Tractor Club members attended steam engine school in Pontiac, they met the Martin brothers and asked them to come on down for Farm Heritage Days.
The park’s own 1917 steam engine is currently in Canton being restored and will not be home by this weekend.
The plowing bee featuring several men from area towns is scheduled for the morning, and the anticipated tractor parade is at high noon each day after the noon whistle blows.
Activities run from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free.
Activities include the daily tractor parade, a flea market and crafters, saw mill and threshing demonstrations, artisan displays, historic house and barn tours, kids’ education area, folk art classes, petting zoo, pedal tractor pulls, a bake sale in the farm house, a plowing bee, antique tractor pulls and Sunday services at the chapel.
Engquist, who himself owns 22 usable tractors, heads up club meetings at 7 p.m. the third Monday of each month at Three Sisters Park.
He is one of the three men coordinating the Farm Heritage Days show this year, including Dan Wiest and Rob Robinson.
For more information, visit www.3sistersatc.com, or www.threesisterspark.com.
Chillicothe, Ill. —
