Posted by sgtbull on September 08, 2008 at 19:44:32 from (166.159.173.247):
I was one of the founders of our antique farm machinery club, the Southern Illinois Antique Power Club. We had our 19th annual show this last weekend. I've had the pleasure of seeing several young people go from children to adults with children of their own in this club. Unfortunately, several of them have drifted away due to their jobs, or just lost interest. We find its a challenge to recruit young members and we're losing older members all the time to failed health or death. What has my knickers in a twist is the following: We had a brief tractor parade up to the city park. My daughter, who is a very responsible, level headed teenager, had her first opportunity to drive her 8n Ford in a parade. Now, I'm not one to let someone unfamiliar with a tractor drive it, and certainly not in a parade, but she has driven it for a few years now, at home and in parades, and is a very concientious, careful operator. We were pacing an unstyled JD B at a blistering 4.5 mph when my daughter had a problem shifting the Sherman tranny. She tried a couple of different combinations, trying to find the best speed to not lug down the engine, but not go too fast either, and just hadn't found the combination she wanted yet. I was behind her, probably making her nervous to boot, after having given her explicit instructions on a safe following distance, and paying attention to what was in front of her. (She knew all of this, but I'm a dad, and its my job.) Of course, she knew not to shift unless the tractor was at a dead stop, and this evidently didn't sit well with our visiting representatives from a MASSEY HARRIS club who were immediately behind me. THREE of them gunned their engines, and passed both me and her, cutting in sharply in front of her just as she began rolling again and giving her a clearly dirty look in the process! These three weren't kids. They were older adults, at least 50 or better, who should have known better, and had a bit of patience. If doing so wouldn't have jeopardized MY job, I might have jerked one or more of those "adults" off of their perch and given them what for. Descretion is the better part of valor, so I bit my tongue, and told my daughter not to worry about it and go on. I've always taught my kids to help those who need help, and they exlemplify that philosophy daily, at home and school. These adults' behavior was inexcusable. Later in the same parade, my daughter and I stopped to help a man who's JD B was having tranny trouble, and although we couldn't fix it, and had nothing to tow him with, we did make arrangements for him to get a ride back to his truck. That's what this hobby is supposed to be about, not about being in a hurry to get somewhere. Guess I just had to vent. My daughter, who was there helping mow the fairgrounds before the show and picked up after the show was very disillusioned and upset. I had to really work on her confidence to get her to drive the return trip, and then, we took an alternate route back to the fairgrounds. She's always looked forward to our club meetings and I hope she sticks around and stays involved. I'd love to see her as a club officer some day, that is, unless some arrogant jerk convinces her to look to other activities. I've done damage control with her, and by writing this, hope to prevent someone else from acting the same way. If you are remotely interested in keeping this hobby alive, treat the younger members well. You never know when YOUR tranny may go out and may need their help.
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