Half Century of Progress Committee members of the I & I Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Club extend a very warm welcome to all our visitors and volunteers, local and around the world, who make this biennial show possible.
The generosity of our many exhibitors is deeply appreciated. Their sharing of antique farm machinery makes this Half Century of Progress a world-wide attraction. We are grateful for all the sponsors, organizations and volunteers who generously give of their resources and time to make the event a success.
We thank Chuck Smith (Mayor of Rantoul), Corky Vericker (Airport Manager) and the members of the Rantoul Fire, Police, Public Works and Recreation Departments for all of their services.
The theme of this year’s show is the Family Heritage Tractors. Many antique harvest machines are in the field and on display at our show. The field demonstrations of this equipment help make our show the largest vintage working farm show in the country. The Class of 1973 tractors and equipment are a great addition to our show.
Again we say Welcome to all in attendance. We hope you enjoy your visit and Thank You for joining us. Please always be mindful of the importance of safety precautions.
Russell Buhr Co-chairman
Half Century of Progress
John Fredrickson Co-chairmanHalf Century of Progress
Thursday,August24
7:00am GatesOpen
8:00am HalfCenturyTractorRidedepartsRantoul
8:00am FlagRaisingfeaturingAmerica’sLargestFlyingFlag
8:30-11:00am FieldDemonstrations(BroomCorn,CornPicking andShelling,CornandSoybeanCombining, andFieldTillage)
10:00-11:00am Max Armstrong Presents
Approx. (PremierCooperativeEntertainmentTent)
12:00-12:30pm TractorRideReturnsforDailyParadeofPower (north-southrunway)
1:00-4:00pm
FieldDemonstrations(BroomCorn,CornPicking andShelling,CornandSoybeanCombining, andFieldTillage)
2:30-3:30pm Big Iron - Equipment Values (PremierCooperativeEntertainmentTent)
2:00-5:00pm BackPaigesBandwith50s&60sMusic (PremierCooperativeEntertainmentTent)
4:00pm TractorPull
Friday,August25
7:00am GatesOpen
8:00am FlagRaisingfeaturingAmerica’sLargestFlyingFlag
8:30-11:00am FieldDemonstrations(BroomCorn,CornPicking andShelling,CornandSoybeanCombining,and FieldTillage)
10:00-11:00am Max Armstrong Presents (PremierCooperativeEntertainmentTent)
1:00pm DailyParadeofPowerFeaturingTheRepower RoundupofRantoul
1:00-4:00pm FieldDemonstrations(BroomCorn,CornPicking andShelling,CornandBeanCombining, andFieldTillage)
2:30-3:30pm Big Iron - Equipment Values (PremierCooperativeEntertainmenttent)
2:00-5:00pm WesWheeler&theBattleCreekBand(Premier CooperativeEntertainmentTent)
4:00pm TractorPull
7:00am GatesOpen
8:00am FlagRaisingfeaturingAmerica’sLargestFlyingFlag
8:30-11:00am FieldDemonstrations(BroomCorn,CornPicking andShelling,CornandSoybeanCombining, andFieldTillage)
11:00-12:00pm BackPaigesBandwith50sand60smusic (PremierCooperativeEntertainmentTent)
1:00pm DailyParadeofPowerfeaturingtheClassof1973... tractorsmade50yearsagothisyear
2:00-4:00pm FieldDemonstrations(BroomCorn,CornPicking andShelling,CornandBeanCombining, andFieldTillage)
2:00-5:00pm
3:00-4:00pm
BackPaigesBandwith50sand60smusic (PremierCooperativeEntertainmentTent)
MaxArmstrong&FriendsShow (PremierCooperativeEntertainmentTent)
4:00pm StorLoc Tool Box Auction For FFA
4:00pm TractorPull
Sunday,August27
GatesOpen
FlagRaisingfeaturingAmerica’sLargestFlyingFlag FieldDemonstrations(BroomCorn,CornPicking andShelling,CornandSoybeanCombining, andFieldTillage)
HalfCenturyGospelHourwith“ANaturalHigh” (PremierCooperativeEntertainmentTent)
ParadeofPowerfeaturingTractorsoftheFFA
FieldDemonstrations(BroomCorn,CornPicking andShelling,CornandBeanCombining, andFieldTillage)
Tune in to 89.9 FM for information during the showThe official Station of the Half Century of Progress Show
As agriculturalists, we are all different. It may be the crops we plant, the way we farm, or the color of equipment we drive, but we all have our own way of doing things. The one thing that unites us as farmers is our ability to understand growth. We plant in the spring and hope for growth. We make plans for how we will grow our operation in the future. And this weekend, we celebrate the growth of how far we have come 52 years here at the Half Century of Progress show.
On behalf of the Beck family and family of employees and dealers, we welcome you to the 2023 Half Century of Progress show. Whether you are a visitor or a volunteer, we are so glad you could be here to experience such a historical event focused on our industry’s growth. Beck’s is honored to partner with the Half Century of Progress as this year’s premier sponsor for an event that is not only known across the nation, but across the world.
We want to thank the community of Rantoul, the volunteer exhibitors, and the local fire and police departments for assisting with the event. Without your efforts behind the scenes, this event would not be possible.
With that, WELCOME to the 2023 Half Century of Progress show! We hope that you enjoy a jam-packed weekend full of great information, fellowship, and live demonstrations of how previous generations cared for the land.
God Bless,
Sonny Beck | CEO Scott Beck | President
RANTOUL, Ill. — Beck’s is taking an International Farmall 560 to the Half Century of Progress Show.
“Purchased March 1, 1984, in northern Indiana, it has been in the Beck family for nearly 40 years,” said Blair Dunn, Beck’s shop foreman.
“A former Beck’s employee spotted the tractor in an old farm paper. It was an original tractor and even came with the dealer sticker on it.
“Its main purpose was to cultivate and be an asset to Beck’s seed corn production. In the most recent years, it’s been used for husk and sort during harvest to pull wagons.”
he i ’t the fi t e k’
tractor to make it to the Half Century of Progress Show.
Previously, the John Deere 4430 was on display. It was the first John Deere tractor for Beck’s — purchased by Sonny Beck and his father in 1974.
“It was a brand new 1974 John Deere 4430 with a cab, 125 horsepower and a 6.6-liter 6-cylinder engine,” Dunn said.
“The plan was to use it to work the ground down with their 33eet i e field ulti ato ahead of the planter.”
he fi t t a to o e k learned to drive was a 1938 International Harvester Farmall F-20.
“His dad, Francis, always had International tractors on the farm,” Dunn said. “Over the course of 30 years, Sonny became very familiar with the F-20, H, M, 560, 706 and other various IH tractors.”
FuelRepresentatives:
GarrettBruns:217-898-0218
JayWarfel:217-493-9198
Hunter Tw eedy:217-800-2111
RickRiblet:217-255-2763
Andy Hazelw ood:217-781-2594
BenSmith: 217-714-3376
JerryShupe:217-254-0593
TravisSwinford:217-841-7999
A team of Beck’s employees demonstrate a passion for caring for historic equipment, including Dunn, Toby Ripberger, Rob Kincaid, Clayton Stufflebeam and Curt Money.
RANTOUL, Ill. — Ree ti o that fi t t u k, a o t a to a u lo k a ood o e o ie o o k a d o o ou outh o a e , it a that fi t t a to the lea ed to d i e to help thei pa e t o a dpa e t , i i ea to ea ile ith a e e o eedo , p ide a d deli ht he al e tu o o e ho ill ho a e tho e da o e ith thi ea ’ the e o ail e ita e a to ” that ill eatu e t a to that ha e ee i the a e ail o e e atio o o e that e e o e o ed the a il a d late ou d a d etu ed ho e u ell uh , a o hai o the al e tu o oe ho , ha o e u h
t a to that’ ee i the a il o ea ad ou ht a e aall i e’ e ala had it i the a il o the a It’ i te ’ o e ixed it up a d keep it oi o he hat’ hat I lea ed to d i e o , too It a the i t a to at the ti e It a al a u plo i a d ulti ati ith that,” uh aid l o, i o e od had a t a to a d the ou d it late a d ou ht it a k, that’ ki d o a i deal, too, to et the t a to that thei dad o a dpa al a had a d the the i it a k hat’ o eti e like ti to fi d a t ea u e, too It’ al a u he ou i d o ethi like that a d a i it a k he t aded it i a d ot a
ette t a to o a di e e t o e a d the i hed the had that thi a k It a a e t o tate a a a d o eho the fi d it he t a to do ’t e e ha e to e e u i hed lot o people till u e the thi ” i e the o d ot out a out the he ita e t a to the e, the e’ a lot o people talki a out it he the hea a out it the et the heel pii a d the a , h, o h, I thi k e ot that o e,’ o the k o a ei ho that al a had o e o the tell thei ei h o ” he a il he ita e t ato ill e o di pla at o e lo atio th ou hout the ho u at atoul a d ill e eatu ed i the pa ade o e o the da
RANTOUL, Ill. — A line of red tractors to highlight the 100th anniversary of Farmalls is planned for the 2023 Half Century of Progress Show.
“The tractors will be sitting at the intersection of the two big runways, which is a little bit different than where tractors have been displayed before,” said Rollie Moore, a member of the Central Illinois IH Collectors Chapter 10.
“2023 is designated as the anniversary of the use of the brand name Farmall, so we thought this is a really good chance to put together a special display,” said Moore about the “A Century of Farmalls — 100 Years, 100 Tractors” display during the show set for Aug. 24-27.
“Our ultimate goal is to put together a single lineup of one tractor for every year from 1924 to
,” he aid a the fi t year a regular was available to a customer.”
Tractors for the Farmall display at the Rantoul National Aviation Center are coming from several states in addition to Illinois, including Indiana and Missouri.
“I had a couple of calls from Kentucky and today I had calls from Kansas and Nebraska,” Moore said.
“We are very good with tractors from the ‘20s through the , ith al o t filled,” he said.
“The newer tractors that folks are still farming with are bigger and harder to transport, so we’re counting on guys who farm close to the Rantoul area to drive them in.”
The all-red lineup of tractors will provide visitors the opportunity to see a range of technology in one spot.
“You can walk down the line and see the oldest technology to the newest technology sitting within a few hundred feet of each other,” Moore said. “That should create a lot of interest.”
Moore has been a tractor collector for about 20 years.
“I’m a farm boy and I live on the farm where I grew up,” he said. “It was red tractors here all along, so it was natural for me.”
Originally Moore started by collecting farm toys.
“I went to a couple of antique tractor shows, did some tractor drives and one thing leads to another,” he said. “Now I’m a restorer and collector.”
The collector’s favorite tractors are the ones he
grew up with on the farm.
“The first tractor I restored was a 1957 IH 350 Utility,” he said. “There was one of those on the farm when I was a 9-year-old kid, o it fit u t i ht ” Moore has a lot of the 50 Series tractors.
“I made it my goal to get all the body styles of the 350 Utilities so I have the High-Utility and the Wheatland,” Moore said.
“I have a couple of 450s and a 656 Hydro, which is my favorite tractor drive tractor because it has the hydrostatic transmission,” he said. “I also have a 6588 2+2, which is technically a member of the collection because it is not used on the farm anymore.”
As a kid, Moore liked to tea tu apa t a d fi u e out how to put it back together.
“I’ve b een a mechanic nut all my life,” he said. “I do a lot of the mechanical work on my tractors.”
The collector also paints
tractors during the restoration process.
“Painting is not my favorite, but I decided if I was going to be a restorer, I had to paint,” he said.
A special event is planned for the day following the close of the Half Century of Progress Show.
“We are having a red-only tractor drive on Monday, Aug. 28,” Moore said. “We will be driving from Farmer City to the Farm Progress ho exhi it field ” These tractors will be displayed at the north end o the exhi it field to e onize the 100th anniversary of Farmall tractors.
“We have permission to display 70 tractors,” Moore said.
“This will be a neat thing that’s never been done before although we have take tu o e o the atique row at the Farm Progress Show before,” he said. “We’re not quite at the goal of 70 tractors yet, but we’re close.”
RANTOUL, Ill — Visitors to the Half Century of Progress Show can get a close look at rare and unique Caterpillar machinery on display and in action.
Chuck Ehler, a Caterpillar collector and one of the organizers of the displays along with Clayton Smith, is bringing several tractors, including an RD-4 model that was celebrated as the 20,000th diesel tractor that rolled off the company’s East Peoria assembly line in November 1936.
When Ehler as a young boy, his uncle, John Ehler, purchased the milestone machine for his farming operation.
Years later, John sold the tractor and its location was lost over time until Chuck and his family e e a le to fi d that a e ilestone tractor rusting away in a field a d e to ed it
“We’re also going to take a Holt combine. We have one of the very,
very few operable Holt combines in the state. Holt was made by Caterpillar. It’s a 1926 model,” Ehler said.
Other machinery to be featured among Ehler’s collection include an RD-6, a Cat 60 and three or four large Caterpillar graders dating from 1928 to 1941.
“These are pull type graders. They stopped manufacturing them at the beginning of World War II,” he said.
“We’re also going to take one other tractor that’s very unique — a 1939 Caterpillar D5. They only made 46 of them and I have one that’s completely restored that will be featured there, as well.”
The D5 was a cross between the D4 chassis and the 6-cylinder D6 45 horsepower D4600 engine.
“We’re taking eight or nine tractors, graders, the combine
and several other pieces of Caterpillar equipment,” Ehler said.
“The people at Rantoul have been so gracious to us. They’re going to give us a place to do some demonstrations. We use these tractor to plow along with the prairie tractors and others for the general demonstration.
“We’re going to have a boatload of stuff. We’re going to have a large lineup. I know it’s an ag show, but we’re all farmers, too.
“We’re going to have a 40-foot by 40-foot tent. There’s going to be a lot of people from all over the world. We have two or three guys from Canada. We have a couple from Germany that are all going to be there and be part of it. So, come early and stay late.
“I want to do everything I can to promote this show. This is the greatest show on earth.”
RANTOUL, Ill. — The 60th anniversary of the Allis-Chalmers D21 tractor will be highlighted at the Half Century of Progress Show.
he fi t olled out of the assembly line in 1963 and was the largest of the D e ie he e ie a fi t introduced in 1957 with the D14.
The D21 was the first Allis-Chalmers tractor to exceed 100 horsepower and the largest row crop tractor available in the industry at that time.
Allis-Chalmers enthusiast Rich Bergeson, who farms with his brother, Bill, in the Ransom area, is a coordinator of the anni-
versary observance.
“We are going to shoot for 250 D21s at the Half Century of Progress Show. We’re calling it the Diamond Edition Anniversary. Our logo has a diamond on it,” Bergeson said.
In the weeks and months leading up to the show, there has been a lot of interest from D21 collectors. he e a e ou o fi e coming from Idaho. There are three coming from exa , i ludi the fi t and last D21s. Several are coming from North Carolina. I believe there’s even a few coming from Canada this time,” Bergeson said.
“There’s one coming out of Alabama, Colorado, a
couple out of North Dakota, several from South Dakota — they’re going to be from all over.”
The D21 anniversary festi itie ki k o o ue da , Aug. 22, when Bergeson is inviting the D21 owners to o e e at e field o a ride-and-drive that will end up at the Half Century of Progress grounds at Rantoul.
“Anybody with a D21 who wants to ride over to Penfield, e’ e oi to eet there around 11 a.m., have lunch and then at around 1 p.m. we’re going to ride over to Rantoul in caravan. They can either drive them to Rantoul on trucks or drive the tractors them-
selves,” Bergeson said. Bergeson will host an open house on his farm Wednesday morning, Aug.
23, to showcase his collection of about 15 D21s, some of which are first being unveiled prior to being fea-
FROM PAGE 16
“It’s going to basically be an open house for anyone who wants to walk through my sheds and see the D21s. We’re going to unveil three or four D21s that haven’t been seen much or haven’t been seen at all or something that we’ve made with different paint schemes and that type of thing,” Bergeson said.
“We’re going to hopefully make it worthwhile. Then we’ll load them up and run them down to Rantoul on Wednesday afternoon.”
Bergeson’s interest in classic Allis-Chalmers tractors grew through the time spent with his father, Burnell, who passed away in 2015.
“I spent a lot of time with dad and this is what he loved to do,” he said.
Burnell’s uncle had an Allis-Chalmers dealership in Donahue, Iowa, and
when he started farming he used Allis-Chalmers and International Harvester equipment.
Bergeson recalled when he was between 10 and 15 years old and he and his dad went to a sale in Kentucky in their 1969 Chevy pickup to purchase a D10 Allis-Chalmers that had one owner.
“Then he bought a D17 Series 4 and it just started snowballing after that. That’s how we got hooked,” he said.
If there’s one thing that Craig Long, who directs safety and security at the Half Century of Progress Show, wants to get across to everyone attending the event, it’s to slow down.
“It’s not a race. There are plenty of things to see and plenty of time to see them,” he said.
One of the biggest changes that Long has seen in 20 years of coordinating safety at the show is the growth of personal conveyances, golf carts, side-by-sides and ATVs at the event.
Along with the increased numbers of motorized transportation comes additional challenges in keeping everyone at the show safe.
“Probably our biggest fear and our biggest problem now is keeping people slowed down enough a ou d the pede t ia t a o they don’t run over someone,” said the retired Kankakee County he i ’ epa t e t deput Long has coordinated safety
and security at the show for two decades.
“The crowds seem to manage themselves. We are talking about a segment of society that is pretty easily regulated and self-regulated. They are not hard to direct in any particular direction,” he said.
But Long said the motorized conveyances now pose one of the biggest challenges to safety.
“Sometimes, they get a little carried away with the golf carts and the side-by-sides out in the o ki field a d pa ti ula l in and around the food court and where the displays are, with the pedestrians,” he said.
Long also reminded showgoers that they can help to keep the show and everyone at the show safe by reporting unsafe conditions or behavior.
“If you see something that is unsafe, say something. Come to one of us and let us know about it at that moment and we will address it. If you see kids running around in an ATV and they shouldn’t be, let us know and we will address it,” he said. Another challenge comes from the dynamic of large groups of people around vintage working farm machinery.
“We have a segment of the population who is looking at the machinery, particularly the combines and threshing machines and corn pickers, who do not have a familiarity with those machines — and machines that weren’t particularly safe when they were new,” Long said.
“We try to remind people — don’t stick your hand in something or touch something unless you know exactly what it’s there for. And keep a safe distance from those machines when they are operating.”
While he is happy to see young families with young children at the show, Long also reminded parents that vintage working farm implements and curiosity of small children don’t mix.
“We love to see young families here, but they need to be reminded that there are things on these implements that are exposed that are hot, that can burn you, especially things like chains, belts, pulleys. So, just be careful with children around those things,” he said.
Long said there will be EMTs and paramedics onsite to tend to any illnesses or injuries. Announcements will be made over 89.9 FM and over the PA system about any safety issues or concerns.
Long will be conducting safety meetings each day. He reminded attendees that anyone operating equipment during the show has to i a a et e tifi ate
Several law enforcement agencies will have a presence on the
grounds throughout the show. Field marshals also contribute to keeping the event safe.
I ou a e i the field , the e a e field a hal p e e t du i the demonstrations. If there’s a p o le , o ee the field a hal a d hi o d i the fi al o d,” Long said.
“Whatever they say in that field, that i the fi al o d o ’t come to me and want an exception. If there is a problem in the field , the field a hal k o what to do.”
Safety and security also involves keeping the grounds in good condition.
“It’s up to us to care for the airport and the grounds and to leave it in the condition that we found it. If there were to be a major event, it could change the availability of the facility, so we are all about safety,” Long said.
“We love to come and play in that sandbox and we really want to keep coming back to that sandbox.”
GASTONIA, N.C. — Neal Lambert, a U.S. Navy veteran and a member of the United Veterans of America, has seen the nation’s la e t i a dail o ea But the sight of the super-sized stars and stripes still inspires awe and pride.
“It makes me feel proud to be an American and proud to have served my country,” Lambert said.
He and others will be bringing the ia t e i a a to the Half Century of Progress Show to be held Aug. 24-27 in Rantoul, Illinois.
he a ill o e the e tiities Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Rantoul National Aviation Center.
While two enormous cranes from Custom Service Crane will ai e a d hold the a , a e t
said everyone is welcome to lend a hand.
Lending a hand to help load a d ai e the a at the ho has become a tradition for many showgoers.
“We love to have whoever is up there come and help us raise it and take it down and folks at the show love to be involved,” Lambert said.
Lending a hand to veterans in eed i pa t o the a a d the group’s — mission.
“We help veterans, feed them, help the fi d hou i i the are having trouble with that. We have veterans that come in and we provide meals at our hall every day. If there’s a veteran in need, we try to help them out,” Lambert said.
The group is also working to create a park around the eet tall a pole he e the a ie he it i ’t o the road.
“We are building what we all at iot a k It’ a i ta a ou d the otto o thi a pole We are raising money to continue working on that,” Lambert said.
he a pole a d the oup’ hall are in rural Gastonia, a suburb of Charlotte in the Piedmont region of North Carolina.
The group is also raising money through donations to pu ha e a othe a he a is a special order from Lone Star Flags in Texas.
“The wind gets hold of them pretty good. We are really in need of another one, but we need to raise about $25,000 to get it. They are so expensive because they are a special order,” Lambert said.
He said the group will have
i o atio a out the a , thei group and the park at the show. They will also be taking donations toward feeding veterans a d pu ha i a e a
The group has been bringing the a to a toul o a u e o years. The group has been traveli a d di pla i the a a ou d the United States for the past 25 years.
od oll e o u to ev ice Crane in Fisher, Illinois, said the company is proud to supply the two cranes that will e e a te po a a pole at the show.
he all a d a k a d e’ e just happy to do it,” he said. Even with the two cranes uppo ti the la , oll e aid the a i lo e ed i i d speeds pick up.
“At a certain wind speed, we shut it down, but we always have two members of our crew onsite the whole time. They may lower it a few times during the show if it et too i d ,” he aid he a is rigged up to be lifted. We drop the hook, they hook it up and we lift it up.”
, Ill i ito can see the process of making a broom and kids can make a rope during the Half Century of o e ho at the a toul ational Aviation Center.
“We have some broom corn pla ted at the ho a d it’ a out waist high,” said John Spannagel, a broom maker.
It’ a little ho t o thi ti e of the year because broom corn grows over 12 foot tall, but it may not grow quite that tall because of the dry weather.”
John Spannagel together with Bob Henderson will use several machines at the show to demonstrate the broom-making process.
te ou ut the head o the broom corn, you run it through the broom corn seeder to take the eed o ,” e de o aid te you dry it in a broom corn shed, then you bale it.”
Broom corn is cut green so it ha exi ilit to ake a ood broom.
I ou let it d it eak o ,”
Henderson said.
It took Spannagel and Henderson two winters to rebuild the broom corn seeder.
“We went and got this out of the woods and rebuilt it so now it works,” Henderson said. “It has two round cylinders with teeth that t ip the eed o ”
Henderson learned how to drive a tractor in a broom corn field
“I worked with the broom corn seeder until I was 14 or 15,” he said. “So, I thought everybody knew about broom corn.”
When harvesting broom corn, farmers make broom corn tables i the field
“You break it over and it takes two rows to make a table,” Henderson said. “You lay the broom
corn on the tables so you can go through later with a tractor and wagon to pick up the corn and take it to the broom corn seeder.”
After drying it for a few weeks, the broom corn is baled and then sold to a broom factory.
“We paid people to cut it by the table at $7 to $8 per table in the early ‘60s,” Henderson said. “I was the happiest kid in the world when we quit raising broom corn.”
“In the early 1900s, the U.S. grew more and exported more broom corn than any other country in the world,” Spannagel said. ut the id ’ , it p ett much had gone out of the U.S. because of the intense labor, so 95% of the broom corn is grown in Mexico now.”
At one time it was a good cash corn for U.S. farmers.
See BROOM, Page 23
FROM PAGE 21
“In the mid-’50s, we made enough to buy a new tractor, so at times it was really good,” Henderson said.
“The most broom corn grown now is around Arcola and there is still a broom company there,” Spannagel said.
“There were over 300 broom companies in Illinois, but now it’s down to less than a handful and there are still some in Pennsylvania.”
In addition to watching the broom-making process, kids visiting the show can also make a rope to take home.
“It starts about 10 feet long and by the time they wind it up it makes a 9-foot jump rope,” Spannagel said.
“Last year at the Amish Heritage Days, we made over 400 ropes in two days,” he said. “The kids really like it.”
“And they’re proud too because they made the rope,” Henderson said.
RANTOUL, Ill. — If it’s antique tractors pulling that you want to see at the Half Century of Progress Show, they have that.
If it’s the legendary pulling tractors and drivers from “back in the day,” the Half Century of Progress tractor pulls have that, too.
And if it’s remote-control tractors powered by weed-whacker motors, yes, they will have those, as well.
“We will have everything from weed-whacker tractors to full pro stocks. The pulls will include the full range of tractors,” said Andy Buhr.
Buhr, who, along with Derek Harms, coordinates the three nights of tractor pulls at the show, has been around not only pulling tractors and vintage tractors since he was a kid, but the Half Century show, as well.
His dad, Russell, co-chairs the Half Century of Progress Show, to be held Aug. 24-27 at the Rantoul National Aviation Center.
he fi t ti e I e t do the track, I was 7 years old on an old Minneapolis Moline R that my grandpa bought back in the 1950s,” Andy Buhr said.
The tractor remains in the family and driving it remains
a family tradition. His son and daughter have driven the tractor at the Champaign County Fair tractor pulls.
While getting the three nights of pulls put together and attendi to e e detail i o a fi e art for Buhr and Harms, having a variety of pulling organizations and pulling classes represented is a delicate balance.
“Over the past few years, we rotated some classes and some groups in and out. That is done i a e o t to i e e e od the opportunity to pull with us at the al e tu ho ith di e e t a tio i odie a d di e e t groups,” Buhr said.
“We’ve had some groups in years past that we don’t have this year. This year we have the Legends. So, we have changed a few things around to keep it fresh and to have something for everyone.”
The National Tractor Pulling Legends Series is based in Bowling Green, Ohio. The group aims to preserve and protect tractors built before 1980.
The tractors in the series are the original tractors that started the odified t a to pulli la in the 1970s and 1980s.
Tractor names such as Heart
Breaker, City Slicker, Mother’s Worry and Bosse Project will ring a bell for many fans at the Half Century show.
A new voice will be added to the lineup of announcers calling the pulls.
“Alan Washburn from Indiana has been the voice of the National Tractor Pulling Association for a long time. He’s going to come help us and he is very excited about the Legends Series,” Buhr said. Washburn will be joined in the announcer’s booth by Art Downs, Carl Downs and Brian Neukomm.
“I try to get multiple people to help with that because it is a lot of talking, but there’s also some clerical work that goes with that so it helps to have multiple people,” Buhr said.
Buhr s aid one improvement that pullers will notice is to the track.
“We hauled in about 70 loads of dirt to try to improve it and we had drainage done under our track. The last time, we had rain the week of the show and it was muddy underneath and we had to deal with that
all week. So, we decided to build it up,” he said. The antique tractors will get a turn, as well.
“During the day, Don Ward will be bringing his sled and we are pulling antique tractors in the morning every day. They will pull for fun all morning,” Buhr said.
he ho epo e fi e up at p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 24.
“I’ve got the show tractors, the 4,500 pound through 8,500 pound classes. Then I’ve got the Central Illinois Brush Pullers group who are going to come in and do some mile per hour classes and a 5,500 pound antique class,” Buhr said.
The Legends Series will kick thi o o ida
“The National Tractor Pulling Legends are coming in and they ill pull fi t o ida he I have the Illiana Pullers Association coming in with a couple of sanctioned classes, then the Indiana Pulling League is coming in with three classes,” Buhr said.
Saturday evening is “the big show,” he said.
“I have the Illinois Tractor Pulling Association and we will have seven classes. We will have two tracks every night and some -
where over 100 total hooks every night,” he said.
On Saturday morning, a unique pulling association will make its debut at the Half Century show.
“I have a group that has weedwhacker pullers coming in. They make small, remote-control tractors out of weed whacker motors. I think it will be neat to see these. They are the WWPA, the Weed Whacker Pullers Association,” Buhr said.
Buhr said there will be plenty of seating at the tracks, including additional bleacher seating. His advice to those who are planning to attend any or all of the evening pulls is to get there early.
“The best thing I could tell people who want to see the show is that it’s best to get there early and get your seat claimed. We will have people getting there on Thursday to claim their spot for the Saturday pulls,” he said.
Buhr said trailer parking will be available around the north/northeast side of the track and there will be areas for golf cart parking.
“By the time Saturday night rolls around, there will be golf carts seven, eight deep,” he said.
Tolono –800-989-1922
Cowden – 217-783-6321
Chrisman– 217-599-3021
WhiteHeath -217-762-7711
Crescent City – 815-683-2126
Dewey -217-485-3440
Danvers – 309-963-4305
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Dewey – 217-485-3440
Emery – 800-989-1922
Danvers- 309-963-4305
Flatville 217-899-0225
Pierson- 217-578-2215
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Ivesdale – 217-564-2271
Jamaica -217-485-3427
Jamaica – 217-485-3427
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Tolono – 800-989-1922
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Westridge - 217-599-0131
Hoopeston -800-989-1922
White Heath – 217-762-7711
PENFIELD, Ill. — Kelly Birkey likes to set up a vendor booth at the Half Century of Progress and the Historic Farm Days shows to visit with the people.
“We’ve sold here for years and have had as high as eight tables and now we have two,” said Birkey during the recent Historic Farm Days event organized by the I & I Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Club.
“The people we’ve seen is amazing,” he said. “They look for us and we look for them every year.”
Birkey first learned about the I & I club when he was asked to judge tractors at the show.
“I was a farm equipment dealer in Paxton and they asked three dealers to judge tractors,” he said.
Along with several brothers, Birkey was a IH
dealer for many years.
“We all knew how to handle a wrench and I started working when I was 19 years old,” Birkey said. “In 1967, I joined the corporation and went to Paxton to be a dealer.”
“In 1978, I transferred to the Hoopeston and opened a new store and then retired out of the Paxton store in 1994,” he said.
“I enjoyed being a dealer tremendously and I never once had a serious argument with my brothers,” said Birkey, who is 94 years old. “We would disagree a lot of times and that’s OK because you get someone else’s opinion.”
“After I retired I came out to e field a d o ked every day a month ahead of the show,” he said. “And two or three other guys did the same thing.”
A lot of work has been completed at the show ou d i e field he e fi t ot the school building it was terrible with broken windows, but the club members went to work,” Birkey said. “One of the worst jobs was taking the asphalt tiles and dissolving the glue off the oo , ut e ot it all cleaned up.”
In the early years, the tractor pull had only a few entries and it was held close to where Birkey has his vendor booth.
“The ground where we have the pulls now was excavated. We changed the shape of that whole area,” he said. “A lot of other clubs can’t imagine how we got to where we are today.”
Along with his work at the IH dealership, Birkey
also had a Cub Cadet business at home where he restored the lawn tractors.
“In the ‘80s, IH produced Cub Cadets without power steering and everybody else had power steering,” Birkey said.
“So, I took the red ones and put power steering on them,” he said. “I probably did over 200 in 30 years, but I can’t do it anymore.”
Birkey sold many of his extra parts at the Half Century and Historic Farm Days shows.
“I parted out 200 cub cadets and now I’m down to three items,” he said.
In addition, Birkey collected a lot of farm toys.
“I had a couple rooms full of farm toys and I sold all of them,” he said. “I restore farm toys, too, and I’ve got one at home now I’m working on.”
POTOMAC, Ill. — John Bruns has made a lot of friends painting tractors over the past 40 years.
“I grew up on a farm and I tried farming, but it was by myself and I work better around people,” said Bruns, who owns Bruns Paint Shop. “I worked in dealerships and one day the boss said he needed a tractor touched up, so I grabbed the paint gun and it turned out OK.”
When Bruns went to farms for service calls, he would see a tractor in the corner of a barn and ask the farmer if he would like it painted.
“I would paint the tractor in the corner of the shed and take the hoods and fenders home to paint in my garage,” he said.
John Bruns stands by a John Deere 4020 that he painted 23 years ago for a customer. He is holding all the tickets of tractors he has painted since 1989, which totals over 400 tractors. See PAINT, Page 29
“I did that for about eight years.”
Bruns then started lining up tractors to paint at his home workshop.
“They just came to me and now I’m working on my 412th tractor and still going,” he said. “I’m going to continue as long as I can still do it.”
The painter has restored four-wheel tractors in the past, but has decided to focus on smaller tractors now.
“I’m 73 years old, so I’m not good on a ladder anymore,” he said. “But I a ta d o the oo o smaller tractors.”
Each year, Bruns has a display at the Historic Farm Days and he also will be at the 2023 Half Century of Progress Show at the Rantoul National Aviation Center.
“I’ve lined up three tractors today,” Bruns said from his booth at the show i e field
“I get to see a lot of people at the show that I haven’t seen for a year and you meet new friends,” he said.
“I’ve painted a couple of tractors in Kentucky and I have another one to do there and I’m working on two tractors from Georgia.”
Bruns has painted a wide variety of tractors.
“I paint any brand — you name it, I’ve painted it,” he said. “I like making the tractors look nice, but they don’t have to look showroom perfect.”
At one time, Bruns painted about 19 tractors a year.
“Now I do eight or nine each year,” he said. “And I’ve had my family right beside me. My son, daughter, son-in-law, grandsons and granddaughter have all helped.”
In addition to tractors,
Bruns has utilized his painting skills on a number of other items.
“I’ve painted everything from toilet stools to refrigerators, pickups, end loaders, sheds and chairs,” he said. “I have another 132 tickets for those jobs.”
A lot of the skill for painting, Bruns said, is knowing when to back away.
“You don’t want to put too much paint on,” he said. “Some guys want to paint the tractor and I just do the hoods and fenders, which is fi e ith e I do ’t ha e to do the whole tractor.”
Bruns has also has collected a few tractors over
the years.
“I have a 39 International H, 50 John Deere, SC Case, 77 Oliver, David Brown 885, 340 International with a loader and a 65 Massey Ferguson with a loader,” he said. “I also have numerous lawn mowers.”
For his projects, Bruns uses Van Sickle paint. he ha e di e e t
colors of paint, including a lot of the older colors for Minneapolis, Oliver and Cockshutt,” he said.
The painter is also a dealer for Van Sickle paint, which happened in an interesting way.
“I called the company and asked where the nearest dealer was located and I was told, “By jolly, John,
it’s you,’” Bruns said. “I was made a dealer over the phone, they sent me the paperwork and we’ve got along ever since.”
In addition to painting, Bruns does tune-ups on the tractors and some work on magnetos.
“My friend, Keith Payne, helps me. He’s an excellent mechanic,” he said.
“I grew up on a farm and I tried farming, but it was by myself and I work better around people.”
John Bruns
On behalf of BigIron, we are thrilled to extend a warm welcome to all the visitors and volunteers attending this remarkable event. As one of the leading sponsors, we are honored to be a part of this incredible celebration of agricultural heritage and innovation.
The Half Century of Progress Show holds a special place in our hearts as it allows us to connect with the hardworking individuals who have dedicated their lives to farming and preserving the rich traditions of the industry. It is an opportunity to showcase the latest advancements in agricultural technology, machinery, and practices while paying tribute to the legacy of the past.
Throughout the event, you will have the chance to witness firsthand the remarkable evolution of farming equipment and techniques over the past 50 years. From vintage tractors to cutting-edge implements, the Half Century of Progress Show offers a unique experience that combines nostalgia with the excitement of modern-day innovation.
As you explore the showgrounds, we encourage you to visit the BigIron booth, where our knowledgeable team will be delighted to showcase our latest offerings and answer any questions you may have. Whether you are a seasoned farmer, an agricultural enthusiast, or simply someone who appreciates the importance of sustainable food production, our team is here to provide valuable insights and support.
We would also like to extend our deepest gratitude to the volunteers who have dedicated their time and effort to ensure the success of this event. Your commitment and passion for the agricultural community are truly commendable, and we are honored to stand alongside you as we celebrate this momentous occasion together.
Once again, welcome to the 2023 Half Century of Progress Show. We hope you have an unforgettable experience filled with learning, inspiration, and meaningful connections. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to engaging with you throughout this incredible journey.
Thank you, Mark
Stock Mark Stock Co-Founder of BigIron
Birkey’s Farm Store has served Illinois and Indiana since 1954 with product support that’s second to none. As the needs of our customers have changed over the years, we’ve added the resources required to serve them. This continued investment in people, infrastructure, technology, and tooling has enabled Birkey’s to become a leading dealer for Case IH Agriculture Equipment. View our full-line up of inventory at www.birkeys.com or call/text one of our locations today!
Mounts with or without weights
For the following:
• John Deere 1770/75 NT, 1790/95 IP, and DB frames
• Kinze 3600/3660 frames
• Case IH 1250-1255
• 36” x 20” x 12”
Weather tight box
• Mounts on the wing, no drilling or welding
• No interference with folding & unfolding
RANTOUL, Ill. — A planting technique that dates back to the mid-1800s and continued through the early 1950s when technologies pushed it to the wayside will be featured at the Half Century of Progress Show.
The check-row planting display and demonstration will include a working planter and cultivation in corn that was planted in July to enable visitors to see the unique row patterns.
Before the development of herbicide technologies, check-row planting was a common practice to keep the weeds at a minimum
through crisscross cultivation.
Check-row planters were guided by wires across the field he i e , t pi all quarter-mile in length, were anchored by stakes at each end and moved as the pla te fi i hed ea h o
There were small notches in the wires and as they went through the planter a seed would drop with each notch.
A field of check-rowplanted corn had the appearance of a checkerboard, with a hill of corn stalks at the exact intersection of each line.
That made it possible to cultivate the rows in sev-
eral directions and made it u h ea ie to keep a field free of weeds.
Ken Kocher, of Thomasboro, will once again feature his 1945 Oliver 60 Row Crop with mounted 1012-D four-row planter. He’ll be demonstrating cultivating and planting throughout the show.
Kocher typically plants the corn for his display a out ou o fi e eek efore the show, depending on the rain.
“I’ve been watering it. I’ve got to water it to get it to grow sometimes,” Kocher said.
See PLANTING, Page 37
“I think this is about my eighth time at the Half Century of Progress. I picked corn there before that. I’ve been involved in the show for quite a while.”
It took Kocher about 10 ea to fi d thi pa tiular 38-inch-row spacing planter similar to what his family used on the farm.
Most planters at the time had 40-inch-row spacing, making Kocher’s unique. He’s been collecting classic Oliver equipment for about 20 years.
“We had our own farm and I got interested in having the things like we had at home on the farm. The planter and the tractor that I have are like what we had a home,” he said.
“I was going to shows all around and it took me a lo , lo ti e to fi d that planter because most of
them got junked.
“They used check-row planting down south later than they did up here. It was done down there up until the early 1950s or real late 1940s because the one I
have is a 1945.
“My dad used it and I used to go out and help him pull stakes, which I couldn’t hardly do because I was a little kid. It was always kind of neat and after
we started doing these shows I thought this was o ethi I’d like to fi d that we had a home. It took a hile to fi d the stakes and everything else for it. I got interested
probably 30 years ago and it took a lo ti e to fi d it ”
Kocher enjoys sharing the history of the checkrow planting technique with thousands of visitors that will see the display and demonstrations.
“The older people really get into it. They know what it is and a lot of them have
had done it. They come back every year to see me and they keep bringing more of their family with them,” he said.
“That’s when a farmer worked. You had to move the wire. You had to get everything set right. It wasn’t just jumping on the tractor, putting on auto-steer and go.”
RANTOUL, Ill. — Picking and shelling ear corn is a rarity in today’s agriculture, but visitors to the Half Century of Progress Show can see the entire process o ta t to fi i h
Shawn Ashby has been actively involved in the demonstrations since the every-other-year show started in 2003.
“The first show I ran a picker for a little bit that a friend took. Two of us started out with two Model D Moline shellers and we had those tied to where we could pull out of one place with them,” Ashby said.
“Then a guy loaned me this sheller for two shows a d the I fi all ot it pu -
chased. This is probably the sixth show I’ve taken this sheller there.”
Ashby’s working display features a 1932 John Deere elevator that’s run by a 3-horsepower John Deere hit-and-miss engine with a John Deere speed jack, all of which he owns.
“My sheller is a 1940 Minneapolis Moline B2 speed sheller,” he said. A long line of tractors with corn pickers harvest the corn on the grounds of the former Chanute Air Force Base, now the Rantoul National Aviation Center. Once the wagons a e filled, the ’ e ou ht to the shelling demonstrations.
“We shell into wagons and we take it from the wagon in a mid-1930s John Deere round tube elevator driven by an 112 garden tractor with a PTO on the front to let the corn out. That goes into the I&I Club’s metal corn crib” Ashby said.
“Normally, my 730 diesel is on there, but there have been other guys from around that have brought tractors to run that.”
Ashby strongly believes in the importance of providing these demonstrations and exhibits for visitors to learn how it was once done on every farm.
See SHELLERS, Page 39
“It’s amazing how many have never seen ear corn. Obviously, it’s a whole different deal from what the young kids, even younger farmers, are used to anymore,” he said.
“It’s important that they still know where it came from and how to do it. That’s why we still get the tu out ”
Ashby most recently
gave shelling demonstration and featured his steam engine at the Northern Indiana Power from the Past show at Winamac. He noted speaking to a visitor at the Winamac show.
“This one guy said he was one of the last people in his county to pick and
crib and shell corn. He said, ‘you don’t know what this means to me just to sit here and watch this happen,’” Ashby said.
“It’s almost as much for the older generation anymore as the young kids because it’s getting harder to get some of the young kids to even care about it. It’s work.
“I’m glad the people over there will still do this and I’m glad Rantoul will let it go on. There’s a lot of people who put a lot of time in and everybody volunteers.”
RANTOUL, Ill. — David Waters uses his Minneapolis Moline U tractor to pull people movers around the grounds of the Half Century of Progress show at the Rantoul National Aviation Center.
“I call it the perfect tractor for the people mover because you sit towards the back and it’s not very noisy, so I can hear the people on the wagon when they want to top a d et o ,” ate said. “And I like driving my Minny because I can see ood ”
Waters has been a member of the I & I Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Club for about 15 years and assists with the Half Century of Progress show as well as the Historic
Farm Days event that are both organized by the club.
“I started by helping Chuck Stelter park trucks and one afternoon they needed someone to drive a tractor with a people o e ,” he aid I did it o a couple of hours and I kind o liked it ”
Waters enjoys meeting people as he transports them around the show grounds.
“I like to talk so I stop a d talk to people to fi d out he e the ’ e o ,” he said. “It’s amazing how many people will come up to me and say, ‘We rode with you at the Half Centu ho ’”
See MOVE, Page 41
A couple of years ago, Waters talked to a group of six people from England.
“They had come to go to the Farm Progress Show and they found out about
the Half Century show, so they came all four days,” he said. “One day it got to be parade time, so I pulled the people mover into the parade and they introduced them all.”
A second people mover is driven by Bob Miles at both the shows.
David Waters gets ready to drive his tractor to pull the people mover around the show grounds. The farmer has met people from many states during the Half Century of Progress Show, as well as a group of visitors from England.
“He’s been doing this for 30 to 40 years,” Waters said. “His grandson painted his tractor and he owns his people mover.”
As Waters drives around the show grounds, he encourages people to take a ride.
“I tell people you better get on because you never thought school bus seats with a tarp on top would feel so good,” Waters said.
“The best part of this is the people,” he said. “When I first started helping I didn’t know as many of the members of the club, but now I have quite a few good friends.”
Moving people around the show grounds is not Waters’ only job. He also sings the national anthem three times a day with Dan Berg.
“I was out parking cars and Dan came up to me and asked if I heard the recording of the national anthem,” he said. “It was awful and Dan said he thought we could sing it better.”
As a result, the duo have been singing at the shows for at least 10 years.
“I sing a high tenor and he’s a bass,” said Waters, who is also a member of the Flatville Lutheran Church choir.
In addition to his Minneapolis Moline U, Waters also has a Minneapolis Moline G.
“I have several other tractors sitting around
that I’d like to fix up,” he said. “But my sons and I farm about 1,800 acres, so it’s hard to get them done.”
Although Waters has a Urbana address, his golf cart says he is from Sellers.
“Sellers is a crossroad right in the middle of where we farm and it’s on the map because it had a post office at one time,” he said. “Sellers is about seven houses now and my son lives in one that my grandfather’s grandfather built in 1869.”
Waters started using Sellers as his address from a comment made by Darius Harms.
“I was in the parade and Darius said, ‘There’s Dave Waters. He’s from Sellers,’” Waters said.
“There would be no Half Century show without the work by Darius,” he said. “He was always working on some idea to make the show more fun.”
“I
to talk so I stop and talk to people to nd out where they’re from.”
David Waters
After-school tractor program teaches more than tractor repair
WASHINGTON, Mo. — In the Night Shift program at Four Rivers Career Center, Dan Brinkmann is teaching young people more than nuts and bolts and crankshafts and carburetors.
“When we go to shows, people come up to me and say, ‘You’re the guy who builds tractors,’ and I tell them all the time, ‘I don’t build tractors; I build kids,’” he said.
Brinkmann is an automotive technology instructor at Four Rivers Career Center in Washington, a city on the south banks of the Missouri River, 50 miles west of St. Louis.
He has taught at the career center, where he also attended classes when he was in high school, since 2004.
Prior to teaching at Four Rivers, he worked as an automotive
service technician at a local Chrysler dealership for 12 years.
In 2018, Brinkmann was awarded the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award in the Washington School District.
The Night Shift program started in 2008 when Brinkmann a a ked to fix a i ta e t a to
“You always have people needing help with something. A project came in that was not part of our regular curriculum. So, I decided to have some of these kids learn how to do what I do,” he said.
Ever since, students in the program have been meeting after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They work from around 2:15 p.m., when school dismisses, to around 8 p.m.
p ett u h ex lu i el ee old farm tractors,” Brinkmann said.
“We will take a dilapidated old piece that’s been sitting out in a fencerow or somewhere. It may or may not run. Most of them don’t.
“It has to be evaluated. If there’s any way we can do testing on it, any kind of mechanical tests, such as compression tests, we do that. Then we formulate a plan.”
Brinkmann leads the students through taking the tractors completely apart.
44 August 24-27, 2023 | HALF CENTURY OF PROGRESS SHOW | www.halfcenturyofprogress.com See TRACTOR, Page 45
“We work on whatever Mr. Brinkmann wants to work on. It’s
“When they are apart, we put a little ext a ti e i to it hi is how I keep 10 to 12 kids ridiculously busy on a tractor. I will have them polish the casting out of the entire tractor. We put as u h e o t i to a di a oto down as we do to sheet metal,” he said.
Students from the Night Shift program at Four Rivers Career Center were recently invited to the Red Power Roundup in Grand Island, Nebraska, to display the restored Farmall tractors they have completed.
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The tractors are fitted out with Firestone tires.
When they are finished, the students and the tractors are photographed by a professional photographer.
Several of the Night Shift tractors have been featured on the Firestone corporate calendar.
The tractors that come into the program are privately owned.
“I have never had trouble t i to fi d o e the all find me,” Brinkmann said.
The expense for the parts and whatever else may be needed is taken care of by the tractor’s owner.
“I don’t want the school to have anything vested into the machine itself, so I try to stay as light on the taxpayers as I can. The owners of the tractors are
funding the repairs. That way, I don’t put a dent in our supply budget,” Brinkmann said.
He said the tractors that come in fall into two cla e ho po ie ” a d “work horses.”
“We have ones we call show ponies. Those are the ones we take completely apart and polish everything down and put them back together. Those tractors only have to do two thi a o e et o a t aile a d et o a t aile ,” he said.
The work horses are tractors that will continue to be used around the farm in some capacity.
“Our work horses are the ones where we might have done one section of mechanical repair. We have one in right now where we are going to overhaul the motor and paint it and it will be a very, very nice tractor, but it will still hook a plow, it will still rake hay
and it will still do tractor cruises,” Brinkmann said.
The Night Shift program starts when school starts and continues through the school year. Brinkmann said he and the students average around 3,500 hours of work into a tractor.
The relationship with the tractors they have spent so much time on doesn’t end when the school year ends.
he fi t u e that we are done with the tractors, we load them up on semi trucks and I will take the tractors and the kids to local thresher shows. If there are any parades, the kids take them,” Brinkmann said.
“I load them and unload them, but the kids are the ones who get them in the parade, and if they are at a show with the tractor, they are responsible for the tractor.”
Brinkmann and a group
of former students will be bringing samples of their work to the Half Century of Progress Show. Since school starts the week of the show, no current students will be along for the trip.
The program typically has eight to 12 students in it and is open to students from the career center.
“We used to mostly focus on auto tech kids, but we started having an interest from kids in other classes.
he i di e e t kill sets, so you might have some welders in there, you might have some collision kids in there and they can learn from each other,” Brinkmann said.
In the last four years, Brinkmann further opened the program to any student who is in any of the high schools that feed into the career center.
“Last year, I had five freshmen in the program and I was happy to have
them because these kids, they want to learn and they want to work,” he said.
Brinkmann sets ground
rules for
the program.
LAW
“They have to maintain their grades. They have to maintain their attendance and their attitude. You can’t upset the boss, and that means anybody, including me, inside the career center. You can’t miss homework assignments. You can’t fail another class,” he said. “Just do what you are supposed to do — that’s all I’m asking.”
As part of the class, Brinkmann also has a couple of other lessons for his students.
“We are there until 8 p.m. so somebody has to cook because you can’t feed enough to a 16-yearold or a 17-year-old. They each take a turn cooking and I take my turn. Everybody puts their name down on the calendar and you take a day and you cook dinner. That’s on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” he said.
The shop has a grill, slow cookers and electric skillets and Brinkmann said the menu has to be more than basics.
“They want to get by with making hamburgers all the time and usually, after about two times of doing that, I tell them that’s done. You have to learn to make something else,” he said.
Even as he is preparing them with technical and job skills, Brinkmann wants his students to have the necessary skills for life beyond high school.
“What I want for them, if they are going on to college, which some of them do, you can’t depend on Subway or McDonald’s to eat every day,” he said.
After dinner on Thursday nights, Brinkmann adds another skill to the learning list.
“On Thursday nights, typically, after dinner, we have dance lessons,” he
said.
The dance lessons come from Brinkmann’s own experiences.
“That’s how I met my wife. I stepped out of my comfort zone and took dance lessons, ballroom, line dancing, Western, tu like that I did it ecause my grandparents knew how to dance and I always saw them having fun dancing,” he said.
“I got shook up in life a little bit and I decided it was time to learn,” he said.
Dozens of classic harvesters line up for their turn to pick corn during daily demonstrations at Half Century of Progress. The show is a popular draw for its ongoing demonstrations, ranging from plowing with machinery or draft horses to harvesting.
FROM PAGE 46
“Then one of my students asked if I could teach them how to dance.” Brinkmann looks on the
dancing like the cooking and the tractor work — as one more step in building kids.
“It broadens the kids out and it builds their confidence. I tell them, ‘You have to be more than your
occupation. You can’t just walk into a room and say
a welder or I’m a mechanic or I’m a body man
or I’m a service technician.
“You have to be more than that,’” he said.
WASHINGTON, Mo. —
In some of the students who join the after-school Night Shift program at Four Rivers Career Center, auto tech instructor and Night Shift founder Dan Brinkmann sees himself.
“A lot of kids are just like I a he do ’t fit i ht They are just not involved. They don’t play sports. I was not a student that you would have liked — that’s terrible to say, but it’s true,” he said.
And in teaching, whether it’s in the regular classes he teaches at the career center or the Night Shift program, Brinkmann tries to be the teacher he wanted to have — and eventually did have.
“I did not have a lot of teachers who appreciated me. I only had one, my junior ea , ho fi all ho ed e that there was value in me. That was my auto tech instructor,” he said.
Regardless of what they may do or may not do in high school, Brinkmann’s goal is to equip students with technical skills and life skills — and the notion that they have a teacher who believes in them.
“It doesn’t matter where you are from. I don’t care. If you want to learn some skills, I’m going to show you and I have an army of people and a lot of support who are going to help me,” he said.
“We will push you harder, we will make you work harder, but you are going to accomplish more than you ever thought you could. But you have to take the bait.”
Brinkmann said he wants students in the program to know that they matter to him and that it matters to him that they gain something from the
program.
“If you are hanging out with me on Tuesday and Thursday nights, my hope is that you learn some skills that you can use in your life to make your own life better. That is all I care about,” he said.
Brinkmann did try to restore old cars in the Night Shift program.
“We tried that one time and it was a massive failure. We started poking our noses around these old tractors, and for whatever reason, these old farm tractors seem to be working real well,” he said.
Brinkmann said there is no secret to getting young people to take an interest in something, as his students have in the vintage tractors.
“If you find the right carrot to motivate a kid, it doesn’t take money, it doesn’t take gifts — if you can show them that if you spend this time with me, you’re going to have skills that no one can take away from you and you are going to be able to use them to better your own life from now until when you decide you don’t want
to do it anymore. But the ball is in your court,” he said.
Brinkmann said that when he hears people talking negatively about young people today, he uses the words of an uncle to set the record straight.
“If someone comes around me and starts fussing about young kids, I like how my Uncle Jim put it one time. He was at a farm supply store and his tractor happened to be on the Firestone calendar that year and it was hanging up,” he said.
“Somebody started talking about ‘kids these days, they don’t want to work.’ He turned around and said yes they do. He
pointed to the calendar and said there’s proof right there.
“He said if you can’t find a kid who wants to work, it just means you aren’t looking in the right place.”
The students who join the Night Shift program have expressed the desire to be there, to do the work. Brinkmann said his job is to build on that.
“What my hope for them to take out of the program and my time with them is some sort of life skills to ake the o e o fide t individuals.
“I am just planting the seed to get them started, give them a leg up,” Brinkmann said.
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RANTOUL, Ill. — If someone sounds familiar at the Half Century of Progress Show, that will be the voice of Chris Karr.
This is the 11th Half Century of Progress that Karr will announce. He also announces the Historic Farm a ho i e field a d has done that for the past 27 years.
Karr’s voice is instantly recognizable and seems tailor-made for the job of announcing.
“I know that people will recognize my voice, but I don’t think it’s that unusual,” he said.
In over three decades of announcing everything from the vintage farm shows to the open and junior swine shows at the Champaign County Fair — and being a 10-time Illinois State Fair hog calling champion — Karr has learned what it takes to be a success at the microphone.
“I stop and pause, speed up and slow down. I don’t want to ramble on. I think when you are announcing events or whatever you are doing, you have to pause and let listeners think about what you just said. You can’t talk at the same speed all the time. I think you have to enunciate words and I am able to do that,” he said.
Karr said another secret to successful announcing is not fearing the microphone.
“I think part of it is that I enjoy it. Some people, when I hand them the microphone, they turn into an ice cube. A lot of people don’t want anything to do with announcing. I love to announce the events,” he said.
During his days at the
Half Century show, which usually start at around 7 a.m. and continue through the end of the day’s events, Karr serves as both announcer and information provider.
“I announce the daily activities. It’s an information and announcing booth. We t to help people fi d the di e e t thi that the like or they have things that they are looking for and we help them find those,” he said.
Karr still has a hand in farming and the vintage equipment world. He and his wife farm 2,000 acres with their son and Karr’s tractor collection includes a Massey Ferguson 44 Special, an International Harvester 504, a John Deere B, a John Deere 4020 and an Economy garden tractor.
“I think it’s important to tell the story of agriculture.
I hope that people who aren’t directly tied to agriculture can attend shows like Rantoul, as we show them what we did, what our fathers and grandfathers did and how we did it without modern technology or even things like tractor cabs,” he said.
Hog calling even got Karr onto national TV. In 2009, Karr and a hog calling champion from Idaho were featured on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, to predict the winner of Super Bowl 43.
The skit featured a live pig released on stage. Karr wore a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey and the Idaho caller wore an Arizona Cardinals jersey. Each of them did their hog call.
“We called in front of 31 million people. The pig came to me and the Steelers won on Sunday,” Karr said.
RANTOUL, Ill. — A Stor-Loc tool box will be auctioned during the Half Century of Progress Show at the Rantoul National Aviation Center with proceeds to e efit e e he au tio i et o at p atu da , u , o t pe e t of the auction proceeds will go to the Illi oi o iatio , to the I dia a o iatio , to the lo al hapte o the u e ’ hoi e a d to a lo al hapte o the e o d highest bidder’s choice. e do ate a lot to the lo al hapte a d fi e depa t e t , ut thi i the fi t ti e e’ e do ated a tool box to the Half Century ho ,” aid e a oue, a aleperson for Stor-Loc. “We’ve always had a booth at the show.”
The Stor-Loc tool boxes are ade i a kakee u p odu t a e e ia ade,” a oue aid a out the ea old o pa othi i
outsourced.”
Donating the tool box helps uppo t the o u it , the opany representative said. he o e o thi au tio will help quite a few people.”
Not only is Lanoue attending the Half Century show to represent the tool a i et o pa , he ill al o e taki o e o hi a ti ue a i e uip e t to the e e t
I did ’t o to the fi t ho , but I’ve been to every one since,” Lanoue said.
“I’ll be at the show playing ith to ,” he aid Lanoue plans to plow with his John Deere G tractors.
I’ oh ee e all the a ,” the tractor collector said.
“I have a couple of old Gs that a e pi a ked o e t a to i behind the other,” he said. “They did that he the eeded o e po e to pull i e e uip e t ”
The collector grew up on a a ea a ti to a d e o driving his tractors at the show.
I thi k it a ax t o that aid o o e i ad the e,” he said. “When you drive through on your old tractor, you see old u ile a d kid ile, too ” oh ee e a d ouple othe alle t a to a e al o i Lanoue’s collection.
I al a like to ha e the o e I u e,” he aid I’ e had a oh Deere tractors over the years, and i the did ’t et u ed, I’d ell the a d et o ethi di e e t ”
“We donate a lot to the local FFA chapters and re departments, but this is the rst time we’ve donated a tool box to the Half Century show.”
Je Lanoue STOR-LOC
Since 1985 Since 1985
For nearly 40 years we've been known for sourcing quality equipment from around the world. Our used parts yard spans over 40 acres with more than 2,000 salvage tractors in inventory. We stock farm & construction equipment, antique tractors, and new & used parts, and offer complete auction services.
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