Hopkinton, New York Summer Parade-Part 2

I was watching the Hopkinton Summer Parade (see also Part 1, posted yesterday) and snapping photos as the paraders went by. This lady drove a beautifully restored antique Farmall tractor:

Nearly all the paraders threw candy to the kids, but because the route was so short, their candy stash so large and the children so few, they were throwing out double handfuls of candy. These kids had collected at least half of what had been thrown so far by the time I snapped this photo:

Step back in time, visit the Hopkinton Museum. I didn't recognize the driver until he waved. Then I recognized him as my nearest neighbor:

The local Girl Scout troop:

A local rust control business. I liked this photo because of the happy kids and dogs in the back of the truck:

An antique car:

And a pink firetruck. I've seen this at other parades and now recognize it as a tribute to breast cancer awareness. This time, however, I noticed that there were handwritten messages all over it:

The horse riders came next. The woman on the white horse is my neighbor who led a donkey in the parade the previous week for suicide prevention awareness:

And then, right behind the horses, was her son with the same donkey:

My neighbor and one of her boys, riding Abilene, the pony:

And her mom, Grandma, the owner of the local feed store, with the other two boys in the family:

I only kept a few of the many firetruck photos I took. This one was from nearby North Lawrence, New York and I thought it would be a fitting way to end this post on the parade:

The Village Of Burke, New York - Part 2

I was taking a driving tour of the small village of Burke, New York, in Franklin County (see Part 1, yesterday). They had a New Holland tractor dealer:

I sure did enjoy photographing some of the picturesque farms:

This antique automobile sat out on someone's manicured lawn:

And there were lots of old barns in terrific shape:

A large and modern fire station:

Lots of homes with front porches and porch swings:

There were still some pumpkins decorating folks' front steps:

There were also modern barns and some very large farms:

A field of horses with what I supposed was Canada off on the northern horizon:

An old barn in excellent shape:

And another old barn, this one with several additions. But Burke was tiny and I'd pretty much seen all of it, so I put my camera away and continued on toward home:

Old Fashioned Harvest Days In The Town Of Madrid - Part 2

There was an old fashioned, steam powered sawmill in operation:

More antique cars:

And this tractor driving around the grounds, pulling a wagon loaded with kids, their little brown dog and grandpa:

This 100 horsepower diesel engine once ran a cheese box factory in Heulvelton, New York. It was running and making lots of noise:

Old time power equipment wherever one looked. This fully operational miniature tractor was a big hit with this boy. His mom told him to get out of the way so I could take a picture, but I said I'd love it if he'd get back on it again. He refused, however, saying instead that he had to "make some repairs." He got in front to check the engine. I think he's going to be a mechanic some day:

Folks (and a few dogs) walked around, examining the old tractors:

And other old time farm equipment. There were several big barns filled with more tractors and equipment, but I never even went inside to see them this time:

This unique little dozer/loader was a wonder to me. I thought it might be for moving snow until I saw the teeth on the bottom of the bucket. That made me think it might have been for picking up stones in a field:

A 1932 Worthington golf course tractor. The Worthington Mower Company produced such equipment from the early 1920s until 1959:

There was a small Civil War encampment:

A 1922 steam engine, used by the St. Lawrence County Highway Department for many years:

This amazing vehicle was running up and down the dirt lanes with very few riders. The man in the white shirt flagged down the driver and asked to get on. He did, and I hobbled up behind, catching up to the wagon, and joined him. We had a nice ride and tour of the grounds until we reached the site of the miniature horse pulls. But I'll post about that tomorrow:

Old Fashioned Harvest Days In The Town Of Madrid - Part 1

The St. Lawrence Power And Equipment Museum was hosting the autumn open house, called "Old Fashioned Harvest Days," and I attended. I parked my car and entered the grounds. Power equipment of varying degrees of antiquity (but mostly quite old) was everywhere:

The last time I was here, the school house had been moved into place and work days were scheduled to get it restored. They'd dedicated it that very morning and I was anxious to see the improvement:

They'd done a marvelous job and filled it with old style desks, the original chalkboard and a school marm in period costume. There was children's graffiti on the front wall from 1944, but it didn't photograph well. Still, it was nice to see that they'd allowed such historic touches to remain:

Outside of the school house were antique tractors:

And more antique tractors and other farm equipment:

And a small barn, sand pile and toy equipment for kids to play with:

I walked from there to the old, restored shoe shop:

It was authentically restored, both inside and out:

Antique cars and trucks were everywhere, parked casually as if their drivers were just off visiting the museum's displays - and perhaps they were:

Then I went to see the old, restored Texaco station:

It too was authentically restored, both inside and out:

And reminded me of gas stations from my childhood. Heck, it reminded me a little bit of the mechanic's garage where I take my car now:

There were harvesting demonstrations:

And steam engines of all sizes and descriptions running. This small one was powering an old time log splitter. But there was lots more to see. I'll post Part 2 tomorrow:

St. Lawrence Power And Equipment Museum - Part 4

This portable sawmill was sawing logs while everyone watched. One man ran the equipment from inside a cab/booth, while this man removed the boards after they were cut:

He removed and stacked the slab wood in the trailer. He stacked the cut lumber with stickers/spacers off to the side:

There was also an enclosed sawmill of the type one still sees on local farms, but it wasn't operating the day I was there:

And then I entered the restored shoe shop:

Inside was all the paraphernalia of a real old shoe and leather repair shop:

Apparently this had once been a real business. How it came to be preserved in such pristine condition, I don't know:

And right next door to the shoe shop was this old time Texaco station:

Inside was all the paraphernalia of the original gas station, including six or seven guys, sitting around shooting the breeze. My current mechanic's shop is much like this in many ways, including the local guys who like to stop in and hang around:


Just outside the Texaco station was this 1930 Model A Coupe. It had only 22,000 actual miles, plus its original upholstery and brakes:

A horse drawn wagon was transporting folks around the grounds. I considered taking a ride, but it was already full:

I toured more antique autos:

I remember only that the maroon car was a Plymouth. Beyond that, all I can say is that my aunt used to have a car very similar to it when I was a boy - and it was old even then.  There were still lots more antique tractors and an entire barn full of antique washing machines, hand tools and the like. I took a quick run through the other exhibits and called it a day. But I'll be back again before the summer is over: