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W
e e k l y F
e a t u r e P a g e
Links to archived past pages on lower left
The contents of the “Weekly Feature” page are provided
to you for your entertainment, amusement, and perhaps information.
Here you may find articles of interest, pictures, historical information
on the Club, or whatever shuffles to the top of the pile on our
desk. The only defined characteristic of this space is that we
will make every effort to change/replace it around the middle of
each week. Thank you for visiting, and please stop by again. Click
on any photo to see it larger in a separate window. |
COMING ATTRACTIONS
You know the old saying, “When one door closes, another one opens”.
That’s pretty much how our seasonal schedule works here at MMOGTA,
as well. While one hand is busy closing out the season and the Showgrounds
for the 2010 year, the other is reaching 10 months into the future,
writing the plans for the 2011 edition. 2010 was a big and busy year
for us here in Oakley, and the results of our efforts were well evident
in the outstanding show we fielded last August. But those of you that
have been around our operations for a few years, or decades, know that
our philosophy has never been geared to accept what we had last year
as “good enough”. For one thing, with over 400 member families,
we can usually count about 800 different opinions on how we can grow
and improve. Granted, that process takes a little sifting, but with
that wealth of raw material, there are always a few gems to be found.
For 2011, we pulled a BIG nugget out of our sifting
pan, with the opportunity to host one of the most prestigious names
in the antique tractor collecting
business, “Rumely” ! In this case, it’s not just
a brand feature, but the hosting duties for the national group known
as the “Rumely Products Collectors”. As a group with members
far and wide, they select a different host organization each year to
provide the stage for their popular annual expo. For 2011, they have
chosen us for that privilege.
I have only had the opportunity to attend one of
their events in the past, a few years back they were featured at the
Wauseon OH show. They
fielded an incredible showing at that event, a memorable spectacle,
with a field of Rumelys that seemed to stretch from one end of the
fairgrounds to the other. That, coupled with the re-creation of the
famous 50 bottom plow demonstration, made for a truly memorable weekend.
In 2011, it will be our turn to provide them a platform for their annual
Expo, right here at the MMOGTA Showgrounds in Oakley MI.
Given the anticipated interest and participation
level, we have made the rare decision to expand our show to include
4 big days next year,
August 18, 19, 20, 21, 2011, in order to better accommodate the extra
activities and logistics that will be involved.
With the hosting of the national “Rumely Products Collectors” group,
we look forward to seeing thousands of new faces and a display field
packed with tons of classic Rumely, Oil Pull, and Advance Rumely hardware.
To me, the giant Rumely Oil Pull tractors, with their unmistakable
chugging sound, have always epitomized the appeal of true antique tractors.
Who does not turn their head toward the first steely “clank” when
that cranking bar latches up on the huge flywheel? You just know you
are moments away from that wide-mouthed explosion of combusted gasses,
smoke, and sounds that will capture the attention of everyone for acres
around. Starting an Oil Pull is not just an action, it’s an event!
And then, when the all of the spinning flywheels, rattling gears, and
belching smoke, make their way to the threshing field or the plow furrow,
the fun really begins. The profile of that huge, square radiator, with
its oil-filled cooling panels, topped by an exhaust outlet the size
of a garbage can, is unmistakable from any distance, and it is a sight
we are eager to witness in our own back yard. This is gonna’ be
fun!
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