FRANKFORT, Ind. — With the Clinton County Fair on the horizon, organizers of the county’s antique tractor exhibit say they expect between 100 and 125 tractors and dozens more garden tractors on display this year, continuing a run of growth that has bucked a broader decline in club membership seen elsewhere in the state.
Scott Batts, president of the Clinton County Antique Tractor Club, discussed preparations for the fair during an appearance Wednesday on WILO and Boone’s Best 102.7’s “Party Line” program.
Tractor Club Readies Grounds Ahead of Fair
Batts said the club will hold a work day to prepare its area of the fairgrounds before members begin moving tractors in over a two- to two-and-a-half-day span. Batts estimated 50 to 70 tractors and families typically participate in the fair parade, with turnout varying by weather.
“We typically in the parade somewhere between fifty and seventy tractors and families are in the parade every year,” Batts said. “It kind of varies depending on the weather and the heat, but we do typically have a very good turnout.”
This year’s featured tractor brands will be Ford, Ferguson, Massey-Harris and Massey Ferguson, Batts said, noting the display aims to showcase manufacturers that shaped mid-20th-century American agriculture, including brands less common locally than John Deere or Farmall.
Club Bucks Trend With Growing, Younger Membership
While some tractor clubs at other county fairs have struggled to attract younger members, Batts said Clinton County’s club has seen the opposite.
“We have several young families getting very involved, which is a wonderful, wonderful thing,” Batts said. He credited activities aimed at children, including a corn pit and coloring sheets, with drawing multigenerational interest. “Whether you’re one year old or ninety-five years old, there’s something down there for everybody to take an interest in,” he said.
Batts said the exhibit also serves an educational purpose for visitors unfamiliar with agriculture. “To me, it’s a display of history and it shows the way things were done by a lot of people,” he said.
Club activities during fair week include a members’ bean supper, a tractor drive to Wesley Manor Retirement Community to visit residents and a blacksmith demonstration Monday afternoon into the evening. Annual membership costs $10. “That’s about the cheapest membership that I know of” Batts said. Those interested can sign up at the club’s building on the south end of the fairgrounds beginning Saturday, or follow the club’s Facebook page for updates.
WILO Radio at 96.9 FM and 1570 AM, Boone 102.5 FM and Clinton County Daily News will also post updates.
