Nostalgic Tractor Ride Visits The Area
Tractorcade is busy touring Marion County, and generating looks, and interest in the past, along the way
Pella, Iowa- For over 500 tractors, Marion County has been a sight-seeing extravaganza.
For the past 3 days, the tractors of Tractorcade have been leaving out of the fairgrounds in Knoxville to travel the countryside at the speed of 12 mph.The tractors were broken up into groups based upon their projected speed.
Steve Zimmerman of Ottumwa said he found an attraction to the ride because he grew up on a farm. “The weathers not been to bad. We got rained on but it’s dried off.” Zimmerman has been riding with a friend of his, and this was his friends first time seeing Lake Red Rock. “First time the guy who’s with me has ever seen Red Rock Lake, he thought that was pretty impressive.”
Zimmerman said the group was making the trip back to Knoxville after their stop at the South Overlook. He went on to say that, at 12 mph, you do get to see a lot of countryside.
“It’s neat to see these old tractors restored, some of them are still at work on the farm. You got to keep that heritage going so future generations can see what it was like.” Zimmerman said of the importance of keeping the tractors on the road for all to see.
People of all ages enjoyed a cruise on their tractors across the Iowa countryside
Tractor rides are a growing phenomena, with rides popping up in several states even as far away as Texas.
This ride was organized by WMT Radio. WMT is a news/talk radio station broadcasting out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“The entire Tractorcade has 553 tractors.” says Tate Fontenot, who is helping out with the ride.
Every year there is a kick off for the event in Cedar Rapids. The ride use to be closed and you had to apply, but now it’s open to anyone that wants to give it a try. The application form is available online. The primary driver for this year paid a fee of $105 dollars, and a secondary driver was an additional $60.00.
Those fees include 3 meals a day. “It’s gone pretty smooth so far.” Fontenot commented.
“The rain yesterday slowed us down for about 2 hours.” Fontenot went on to say. But the tractors ended the day pretty much on time, even with the delay.
I asked Fontenot about how other drivers were reacting to the line of tractors when they would come upon them. “Some people just get a little bit angry at them, because they don’t pull over.” but Fontenot said that most people understand what is going on, and appreciate the significance of the ride.
It certainly is a colorful sight with the tractors lined up. You will find many different makes and model years to admire.
“Hasn’t been to bad” is how Darwin Hopper described his ride so far in Tractorcade. “It’s a little chilly there in the mornings, and we got a little damp this morning, nothing serious.”
“I’m a farmer so I been just watching these crops. I can’t get over how much hasn’t been planted yet. The fields are so wet.” Hopper noticed while riding the local countryside.
Hopper calls Springville, Iowa home. Springville is 20 miles East of Cedar Rapids.
This is Hoppers 10th Tractorcade, “I started it in 2002 and I took my dad the first time. Turned out to be the best thing cause I lost him that fall. I decided he really enjoyed it, so I decided I’m going to go out and run it as long as I can.”
Hopper is passing along the tradition, as he has his grandson along on this ride. “He’s enjoying it.” Hopper said.
Today the group is heading back to Pella, and will cruise by Vermeer between 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. on their way back to Knoxville, once again, to wrap up Tractorcade.
