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Friday, July 18, 2008 8:05 PM CDT
JI Case tractors a family tradition
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — For Jerry Thomas, owning JI Case tractors is a family tradition.
Thomas has four Case tractors at the East Central Illinois Antique Farm Equipment Club Show at the Coles County Fairgrounds. The rural Charleston resident said it was the brand of tractor he first bought when he began farming in 1983, and he later bought an antique tractor from a neighbor and restored it with his sons.
“It kind of grew from there,” Thomas said Friday. “It’s really a good activity to do with my sons.”
As it ends up, Thomas’ son Justin led the Charleston High School FFA chapter’s project to restore a 1949 Farmall H tractor, and sales of raffle tickets for a chance to win the tractor are available at the show.
JI Case and Allis Chalmers tractors are the featured makes that the club’s show this year, which continues today and Sunday at the fairgrounds. The show includes tractor pulls and parades, wheat-thrashing demonstrations, a flea market and other entertainment, and there’s no admission charge to attend.
Club President Jim Anderson said the show features a particular make of tractor every year because it’s “traditional for most shows.” The club picked the JI Case and Allis Chalmers tractors for this year’s show because they hadn’t been featured before, he said.
By Friday morning there were more than 60 tractors on display in the fairgrounds midway area for the show. The show usually averages about 150 entries, Anderson said, but he was “well-satisfied” with the entries, considering the high price of gasoline and the state of the economy.
The club announced that two additional entertainment acts have been added for the show’s weekend sessions. The GW & QC Magic musical group from Charleston will perform at 5 p.m. today and the White Family, a country and gospel music act from Neoga, will perform at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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