For myself and for the most active volunteers involved in Inman Farm Heritage Days, this is one of the most wonderful times of the year.
Like Christmas and other big days on the calendar, the most exciting part of our show often comes before the fact – the anticipation, the hard work and the fellowship enjoyed in the preparation for the big event.
This week has seen typical show preparation, and I think the volunteers young and old wake up every morning excited about what the day will bring.
Even though Monday was Labor Day and should have been a time for rest, we got lots of work done. Joanne and I did some mowing and spraying. Glen and Jason Roberts mounted a light to illuminate our flagpole, and hung a light fixture that Glen made of old farm items in the main building.
Chandler Tillman and Caden Wilson did some weedeating and picked up several loads of limbs from the show grounds.
Joanne and I ended the day with a cookout with our friends and neighbors, Chris and Jodi Gibson and their kids Macie, Graham and Grant.
Chris also spent some time on show prep this week. He helped remove an old pump house and replace it with an old-timey well shelter that will allow visitors to Inman Farm Heritage Days to experience drawing water from a well with a rope and bucket.
He’s also working to get one of the show’s tractors, a 1957 Farmall Cub, back running from a decade-long slumber. It’s been quite the challenge, with the latest setback coming when the starter was found to be locked up from rust.
Tommy Hicks and Glen Roberts, as they do time after time, stepped up in a big way to get the well shelter project completed. They’re both very generous with their time and resources and an absolute pleasure to work with.
(Pictured below from left to right: Tommy Hicks & Glen Roberts)
Our neighbor Ron Sanfordbailed us out with the loan of a battery-powered saw when the electricity went out the other day. We didn’t miss a beat.
Howell Fowler finished putting a fresh engine in our 1935 Ford ton-and-a-half truck and brought it home. (I’m sure some purists will be disappointed when they learn the new powerplant is a 350-cubic-inch Chevrolet engine.)
Joanne has been after us for years to get another teepee to use in an exhibit about our area’s Native American heritage.
An 18-foot teepee arrived in the mail this week, and Allen Pierce cut and and helped haul in seventeen 24-foot poles to use on this project. It’ll be an adventure getting it up, but we’ll have it done by showtime.
(Pictured to the right: Allen Pierce with the teepee poles)
Our usual Wednesday night tractor repair session went exceptionally well. Daniel Perkins cranked and drove his 1962 Fordson Dexta, which was in awful shape when he got it, for the first time.
The maiden voyage was on four flat tires, which Joanne found hilarious, and Daniel was grinning from ear to ear. That man loves his Fordsons.
Check out the video below in the link!
The average person would have taken one look at that tractor and said it wasn’t worth the effort, but Daniel never doubted it would run again. Before we quit for the night, he took the rear wheels off to replace the tires. It’ll be in the parade come show time, and I hope to make a lap on it myself.
Daniel also put new seals in the injector pump on our John Deere backhoe, and Darryl Coleman rebuilt the carburetor for our 100-year-old Farmall Regular. We’ll give it a try this weekend.
Jean Haygood helped Joanne work on an exhibit of the history of Inman and the Inman Methodist Church. In addition to her hard work, she also brought lunch. Yay!
Duck Carden brought his mower and helped Joanne cut grass, while Stephanie was working on our souvenir program and show button.
One of the highlights of the week came Thursday morning as Glen Roberts and I were working on the well shelter. Wilson Phelps, who was very active in the early years of the show, and his son Bubba stopped by for a visit. (They also brought us two wheels and tires for a Farmall M.)
Wilson, now in his upper 80s, seemed really pleased to see lots of activity going on here, and he and his wife Ethel are hoping to be at the show on Sept. 20-22.
I hope lots of y’all can be here too.