I attended the Tri-State Gas Engine Assn. Spring Swap Meet in May and Summer Show in August. The club holds the Spring Swap Meet in May and they had nice weather and a good turnout.

There was one day of rain while I was there but I donned a rain poncho and umbrella and found my way under a canopy or two when it was necessary, which offers a few minutes for a break and conversation in an otherwise busy day.
I met Scott Patterson of Williamston, Mich., who makes pedal tractor implements for pedal tractors. I saw several small kids tugging on their grandpa’s shirt sleeve to “pleeeease come look” at a disc or sprayer to pull behind their pedal tractor at home.
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In August, before I attended the summer show, I took a quick detour to Greenville, Ohio for the Darke County Fair, which is billed as one of the largest county fairs in the country. There my mission was to meet and visit with Nick and Mary Dengler of Dengler Tractor Parts where they were set up. And while I was there, of course, I sampled some good ol’ fair food! Deep fried everything!
The rest of the week I walked the 70 acres, (that includes the exhibit area and the campgrounds) of the Tri-State Gas Engine showgrounds, meeting and greeting many advertisers, readers, collectors and friends.
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Kevin McWhorter of McWhorter’s Magneto Repair, Minier, Ill., chats with a customer. |
A common factor at the shows is that so many vendors and exhibitors are more than willing to send a customer to another vendor if they don’t have just what they are looking for, so there is a lot of respect for each other out there. According to club member Al Confer, including visitors, exhibitors and vendors, 95,000 to 98,000 people came to enjoy the show. The attendance was up at the gate almost 25% from last year. Awesome!
One of the features this year was Caterpillar. The Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club (ACMOC) had a nice tent set up which housed memorabilia, toys, information and old and new Cats.
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Check out their website at www.acmoc.org. Also see the club’s website for upcoming show information: www.tristategasengine-tractor.com.
See you down the road!