The 27th annual Inman Farm Heritage Days is just around the corner (Sept. 20-22) and we’re going full bore with our preparations.
Glen and Jason Roberts got Joanne’s teepee up. They had experience in teepees from Scouting, so that was a quick job, even though the teepee is 18 feet wide, and the support poles are 22 feet high.
(pictured right: from L-R: Glen and Jason Roberts after putting up Joanne’s teepee)
(The trick is placing a rope over the top of a 12-foot stepladder and tying the end to the tops of four poles lashed together. Then two people pull on the rope while a third hoists the poles up. Once the first four poles are up, it’s just a matter of spreading the bottoms of the poles to the perimeter of the teepee, then simply laying the rest in the gaps.)
Tommy Hicks and Glen Roberts took the oak timbers we sawed last week and used them to replace the rotted ones under the Superior oil field engine. Like the teepee, that seemingly daunting task went off without a hitch.
We used four jacks and some channel iron to jack the engine up high enough to get the new timbers in place. That should balance the end and stop it from “walking around” when it’s running.
Jean Haygood spent several days helping prepare exhibits and cleaning buildings, and Justin Chosewood from B2 Contracting (Brandon and Miranda Harp’s company) did some touch-up work on the walking trail with a skid steer.
Greg Adamek’s crew put tin on the new peanut shed and made repairs to the roof of the main building.
During our regular Wednesday night tractor repair session, Daniel Perkins worked on his Dexta, Austin Chason fixed a fuel line, filter and cutoff for the Farmall F30.
Sammy, Sam and Austin Chason got the John Deere G almost ready to crank. We didn’t get started on it until July 15, so a major overhaul has been accomplished in a relatively short time.
Keith Betsill and Jon Krakeel are getting the liquor still exhibit ready, and Tommy Hicks made some needed repairs to the doodlebug made from a 1927 Chevrolet engine and transmission and a 1928 International rear end.
It’s been way too long since it was cranked but it ran just fine. It’s one of our most cherished exhibits, as it was originally built by a farmer named White, restored by Billy Thurman and passed on to Inman Farm Heritage Days.
Daniel Perkins fixed an injector pump leak on our John Deere backhoe, and we immediately put it to work hauling slabs from the sawmill.
Austin and Braydin Ridgeway at Hollonville Tire Company worked through their lunch hour on Friday to fix two tractor tires for us so we could have those tractors ready for the show.
Donald and Amy Jones, in conjunction with Stephanie, are hard at work on our souvenir programs, which will be a whopping 64 pages this year, thanks to all our exhibitors who contributed articles and to the advertisers that support the show.
Tractors are starting to roll in. Glen Roberts has six on the grounds and more to come. Bobby Nipper has four here already, and the Empty Wallet folks are quickly filling up their corner.
It’s an exciting time. Thanks to all who support us, and we hope to see lots of y’all at the show.