Part 2, Hopkinton Summerfest Antique Tractor Pull

This is Part Two of the Hopkinton Summerfest antique tractor pull. As I did yesterday, I'll again post the photos without comment:

Part 1, Hopkinton Summerfest Antique Tractor Pull

The Hopkinton Summerfest brochure said the tractor pull was at 9:00 on Sunday. I thought this an oddly early starting time, but drove over anyway to see what was going on. I saw people gathering and lots of tractors, all them antique, and concluded that 9:00 was the time it all began, but it would be going on all through the day. And apparently, the antique tractors were first on the agenda:

I really don't know much about tractors and don't have much to say, so I won't make many comments. I will say, though, that this first tractor was not an antique but part of the maintenance equipment for grooming the pulling surface:

There were lots of antique tractors and friendly folks chatting:

Hopkinton Summer Festival, Part 2

I had arrived at the farm on a Sunday afternoon just in time for the final day of Hopkinton's Summer Festival and tractor pull. The actual competition had not yet begun so I walked around looking at the tractors and the people:

There was a corn field adjacent to the tractor pull field and more tractors were arriving by the minute:

Folks shot the breeze with their neighbors:

And did last minute check-ups and repairs to their tractors:

Those who would be competing waited for the big event along with the hundreds of spectators:

Old friends enjoyed a day off from work and a chance to exchange gossip:

More tractors, more farmers anxious for the tractor pull to begin:

I guess this was the rural version of a souped up hot-rod:

But it was exceedingly hot and I was becoming alarmingly dehydrated. So I decided I'd have to forgo the tractor pull and began making my way through the crowds as I headed back to my car:

I did, however, stop at the town green where a country-western band was singing for another crowd of people:

There were lots of food booths along the green but it appeared that most of the eating was over with. Folks were by then digesting their food and listening to the band:

And the band was good. I took a video so that you could hear it too, but lost it somehow while downloading. Alas, that was the end of my Hopkinton Summer Festival experience. I drove back to the farm where I had dogs anxiously waiting for me. I very much needed to drink some water and settle in for the night. I met another of my neighbors on my way back to the farm, but I'll post about that tomorrow:

Hopkinton Summer Festival, Part 1

I arrived at the farm on Sunday afternoon and unpacked the car. I let the dogs out into their fenced yard and then made them comfortable so that I could hop back into the car drive to Hopkinton where their Summer Festival was in its final day. The tractor pulls were Sunday afternoon and I wanted to see them:

The actual contests had not yet begun but there were hundreds of folks watching and preparing for the event. There were more tractors than I'd ever seen in one place, including small, older ones:

And big, powerful ones. This tractor was preparing the field for the pulling competition which was about to begin:

Guys were unloading their tractors and revving the motors:

And hundreds of folks watched along the sidelines. Lots of beer was being consumed on that hot day:

They were preparing the ground and I imagined the tractor pulls would begin at any moment. An announcer was greeting everyone over a (very) loudspeaker:

I imagined that the competition soil would be compacted after it was harrowed:

There were motorcycles and rescue squads:

And every conceivable type of tractor:

A fire truck began spraying the recently harrowed soil as the crowd watched:

Other folks milled around and talked with friends:

More tractors arrived. I was enjoying the show even though the real show had not yet begun. I'll post more about it tomorrow: