Looking forward to seeing you there Dave! I hope that you can bring a couple more fellas along with you. I know that I was really impressed with the group of guys I met at BC I a couple of years ago.
Now for a little information on why I chose to call this event Heritage Plow Day. My family came to this country in the late 1800's from overseas. They were of German heritage and were looking for the freedom that the USA offered. They were also farmers and looking for a place that had similar soil and climates as to what they were used to. My Great grandfather and his family purchased a farm that is just up the road from the host farm that all attendees will be plowing at. My great grandfather and mother had 12 children and raised them there on the "Homestead". My grandfather married my grandmother in 1945 and they purchased the farm that you see here (slide circa 1968)...
This is the host site of the HPD I. This is where my dad and his 5 siblings were raised. My grandparents passed away more than a decade ago but my dads youngest brother received the farm and cash crops the land to this day. His two boys are carrying on the tradition and one of them, Russell, went to Bluniers Plow Day last fall.
This was the whole family at my grandparents 25th anniversary. My dad is on the left and my uncle Roger who now owns the farm and is hosting HPD I is on the left in the front!
The farm was a dairy farm from 1900 when the barn was built until 1992 when the cattle were sold and the land was used for cash cropping continuing through today. Many of my fondest memories as a child are centered around this place. I loved farming with my family. It was hard work but it was also very rewarding. My dads two older brothers own cash crop land adjacent to the homestead and before grandpa passed he gave my dad a couple of acres on which to build a house. So, my dad and his three brothers live within a mile of where they were born and raised. One lives in the same house and one on the same road! Here is my grandpa milking a cow (circa 1967)...
The next couple of pictures were taken of my dads oldest brother plowing the very field that we will be plowing with our GT's! (circa 1969)
When I say Heritage, this land has been in my family for nearly 70 years and the property just up the road has been in my family for over 110 years! I really do hope that you guys can make it out to see the farm, visit with my relatives and neighbors, and play in the dirt!
When you get off highway 21 by turning south on to Edgewater Ridge and then take a left on to Ferry Lane, that is the field that you will see. My parents house is now at the north end of that field as my dad took this pic on his way home from work in 1971. Then you will drive in the drive at 3818 Ferry Lane where you will go through the yard and across on to the lane right where my dad's second brother's GTO is sitting in this pic (circa 1972)...
You will be able to choose a spot to park your rig and unload. It is raining heavy here right now but hopefully that will get out of its system and we will have nice weather all next week leading up to the big day. Last night we struck out and here are a couple of pics my cousin Mike took...
My dad's (Dad in red shirt) freshly restored WH is in the front, my cousins 100 on the left, my son's 100 (THE MULE) in the middle-back, and Mike's White Knight in the Background (Dad's house behind that)...
Once again, I hope that you can make it and if you have never been to one of these before, this would be a great time for you to come and check it out. Even if you don't have your own rig, I'd be happy to give you some seat time on one of mine. The Stertz family looks forward to seeing you soon...
