Oh boy, it's hot in Oklahoma! The Green Girl not only bleeds green, she also sweats green!
So did the thousand-plus brave souls who ventured into the sweltering summer sunshine to watch all the green-and-yellow tractors in action this past weekend in Fairview, Oklahoma. The occasion was "The National" John Deere Two-Cylinder Show hosted by the Oklahoma club. Two solid days of green machines as far as the eye can see and two days of triple-digit heat and high humidity. My John Deere collectible thermometer read 80 degrees at 7 am and 100 by noon…and that was in the shade! Temps easily reached 115 in the direct sun, especially on the seat of an antique John Deere tractor. A warm southerly wind felt like a blast furnace as humidity levels climbed into the clearly uncomfortable category. But diehard green guys and gals won’t be stopped by a little Hades heat! Droves of people of all ages wandered the Major County Historical grounds northwest of Oklahoma City. And there was plenty to see — from blacksmiths in action to plowing, threshing, baling, binding, combining, and corn shelling…plus tractor pulls, slow races and other contests! It was definitely two full days of fun!
At noon each day, a long line of green-and-yellow (and some rust colored) tractors and equipment paraded past the sweating spectators crammed into the few shady spots. The familiar pop-pop of the two-cylinder design delighted both young and old. This year’s show featured the Model G tractor made from 1941 to 1953. The Green Girl autographed copies of her book, "John Deere Collectibles," and displayed some of the memorabilia in her own collection. Not only did Oklahoma John Deere fans find their way to Fairview for the show, but visitors were also from neighboring states of Texas, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri, plus farther-away places like Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Colorado. A special treat of the event was meeting fellow author Brian Rukes, a local Oklahoma writer who wears many hats within the host Club, including parade announcer, newsletter editor and more. Brian was also selling and signing his beautiful book on John Deere Model A tractors. Brian is brilliant with tractor facts and figures…he’s practically a walking encyclopedia on Deere data! Brian is a busy guy who has three more books in the works this summer so watch for his newest titles from Motorbooks/MBI Publishing. Hats off to Brian, Randall, Ray and the rest of the OK club for putting on an amazing all-green show! Now if they can just get me an air-conditioned booth for next year… Next week, The Green Girl will write about the short-lived, somewhat-secretive Deere-Clark automobile business of the early 1900s.
Text Ý © 2001 Brenda Kruse. |
Many Deeres lined up each day at high
noon to parade past with pride. This is only a small part of the whole parade! How many
John Deeres can you count?
Tractors were the star
of the show but they weren’t the only green machinery there.