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There were several pigs in a poke or at least a pen at the 3rd Annual Vintage Tractor Fair held at the Museum of Ventura County Agriculture Museum Monday. |
All tractors all the time at 3rd Annual
Vintage Tractor Fair at Ag Museum
September 11, 2015
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
It was all tractors all the time from 1/3 scale model hay baler to a classic John Deere with its distinctive yellow and green coloring at the 3rd Annual Vintage Tractor Fair at the Ventura County Agriculture Museum Monday.
Railroad Avenue outside the museum was lined with more than two-dozen vintage tractors owned by members of the Topa Topa Flywheelers for the celebration held immediately after Santa Paula’s Labor Day Parade where a museum tractor closed the event urging the crowd to attend the free fair.
And they came crowding the museum and the tractor exhibit area, enjoyed music by the Cruise Knights and took part in a pie-eating contest. A special Kids Zone had more activities for a small fee.
The event, sponsored by the Topa Topa Flywheelers and Limoneira, featured more than two-dozen of the classic farm vehicles and their owners who answered questions and explained how the machines work for the crowd.
And it was some crowd: “We came up with a count of about 1,280,” said Museum Guest Relations Specialist Suzanne Soprano.
“It wasn’t as big as our first two years but we think it was just because of the heat,” that drove many visitors inside to enjoy the exhibitions and the museum air conditioning.
The Topa Topa Flywheelers was founded in 1993, after a display of old iron was staged at Somis School carnival. As owners of the vintage equipment chatted the idea was born to start a club and the Topa Topa Flywheelers Antique Gas Engine & Tractor Club was formed. Flywheeler is the slang name for an antique stationary engine with its flywheels on the side.
The group includes members of all ages and professions with a shared passion: to collect, preserve, restore, display and operate antique farm equipment and machinery, as well as to educate the public. Many club members were among those that helped open the Agriculture Museum which features donated tractors.
The club tractors are from the 1930s to the 1960s and run the gamut from the John Deere, Minneapolis Moline, Case, Farmall, Gibson and Ford to International Harvester and Allis Chalmers.
The Vintage Tractor Fair also featured food trucks, a petting zoo, tricycle racing and a chance to visit the museum exhibitions and its fully stocked General Store.
“This has been so much fun!” said Cindy Fuller of Simi Valley the family’s first time visit to the Labor Day Parade and the Agriculture Museum.
When told that Santa Paula also has a Cruise Nite on the First Friday of the Month (the last event for the season will be held in October) and a First Sunday Open House at Santa Paula Airport every month, Fuller was stricken.
“Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed. “We’re coming back to Santa Paula!”
Soprano said such a remark was typical: “Anytime when we have any kind of event people come and say we’re amazed that we didn’t know you were here! That amazes me! But it’s great to expose people to our museum,” including Monday’s crowd that packed the venue, brought strong sales to the Country Store and plenty of positive comments from visitors about the Vintage Tractor Fair and the museum.
