Farmers taking step back in time
Agriculture Antique Power Show will be held Saturday and Sunday in Sussex
SUSSEX - In the town where barn clothes are as typical as heels and business suits in nearby cities, the tradition of agriculture will be celebrated this weekend.
And the farming equipment that has been along for the evolution of the industry will be in the limelight.
In the dairytown, which is suitably the home of the Agriculture Museum of New Brunswick, the 12th Antique Power Show will be held Saturday and Sunday as a fundraiser for the museum.
"Usually what we hear all weekend is 'I remember so and so had an old tractor like that,' " says organizer Carl Bettle. "It might not be the same piece of equipment but it still brings back a lot of memories."
He said the antique tractors and other farming equipment will travel to Sussex with their owners from across the Maritimes.
"We even have them come across the border from Maine," Bettle said.
For browsers, the weekend is like a step back in time as they revisit the items they themselves, or past generations of farmers in their family, used to work their land.
For the people who restore and show off their machines, it's a mix of nostalgia and pride that brings them here year after year.
"For most of them, the appeal is the bragging rights," Bettle said. "It may be hard for a lot of people to understand but these people restore these old girls. They put more money into restoring them than what they cost when they were original, and in a lot of cases they look better than they did when they were new. There's a lot of pride that goes into it."
And the event is a personal one for Sussex, Bettle admits. Farming heritage in the dairytown is something citizens not only respect, but it's like a time-honoured tradition here, Bettle admits.
Farming, he added, has developed this region to what it is today even though in more recent years the Sussex area's reputation is growing for its potash mine and natural gas developments.
Bettle remembers back to the mid-40s when the tractor made its way onto the local farming scene.
"Even in my time I can remember that when farmers first looked for a tractor, all they asked of them was to replace a team of horses," Bettle said, thinking back to when he started working at the International Harvester dealership, Sussex Farm Supplies, in 1947. "As years went on, that changed. Tractors become more and more elaborate, but that wasn't always important.
"I remember the very first tractors we sold after the war. There was a shortage because most factories were making army equipment so it took a few years for farmers to get their tractors. That's when we saw the horses start to get traded in."
Bettle now owns Sussex Farm Supplies and while the business continues to cater to farmers with their milking and other barn equipment, it no longer deals in tractors.
The Antique Power Show, featuring antique tractors, old gas and steam engines and vintage farm equipment, will be held Saturday and Sunday at the Agricultural Museum of New Brunswick on site the Princess Louise Park and the 8th Hussars Sports Centre.
Saturday's events include a parade through downtown Sussex at 10 a.m. with an antique auction of horse-related items like sleighs, wagons and plows taking place that afternoon at 1 p.m. inside the sports centre. The Sussex Vale Women's Institute will also serve lunch at noon, and there will be a dog agility demonstration at 3 p.m. on the show grounds. A musical evening featuring old-time music by popular fiddler Winston Crawford and guests will take place inside the sports centre at 7 p.m., cost $5.
On Sunday the antique tractor pull will be held inside the show barns at 10:30 a.m. and is a true test of a tractor's power as cement blocks and even men are added to its load.
"If you can pull more than your neighbour, that's a good year's worth of bragging rights," Bettle joked.
Admission to the power show that will take place rain or shine is $6, with all proceeds to benefit the community-run agricultural museum.
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Thanks to all the volunteers who put this on! Love it.