Date: Fri 21-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Tractor-Club-history

Full Text:

A Sunday Of Vintage Motoring On Main Street

(with photos)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The old Newtown Agricultural Fair is long gone, but memories of the town's

agrarian past were revived last Sunday as a dozen antique farm tractors

converged on the old Yankee Drover lot.

The farm equipment was brought to the center of town by the recently-formed

Housatonic Antique Tractor Club which joined forces with the Newtown

Historical Society for the event. The goal of the program was to showcase

Newtown's agricultural heritage.

Coincidentally, at about the same time, Main Street was filled with vintage

Ford automobiles restored and maintained by a Fairfield County automobile

club.

The Antique Tractor Club is made up of about 20 members -- all residents of

Newtown -- and nearly 40 pieces of venerable equipment. All the equipment is

"runnable," much of it in daily use, and ranges in age from 25 to 50 years.

All but one of the tractors showcased Sunday arrived on its own wheels,

according to organizer Dave Kendall.

The Newtown Agricultural Fair was once the fourth largest in Connecticut and

was one of the most exciting events in the town's seasonal round of

activities, according to Newtown Historian Dan Cruson.

The fair, which took place during the Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s,

was first held along Main Street, but soon moved to a piece of land which is

now occupied by Hawley School. It was a popular event, bringing in as many as

5,000 fair goers on some days. The fair usually lasted 4-5 days and was held

in September. It included a half-mile race track for horses, buildings and

tents, a grand stand, commercial exhibits, and dozens of farmers selling

produce and/or showing off their farm equipment and animals.

After about a 20-year run, the fair went out of business in 1906.

During the tractor exhibit on Sunday, members of the Fairfield County Model A

Club drove their antique cars through Newtown on their way home from the

Elephant's Trunk Flea Market in New Milford.

The drivers parked near the Newtown General Store on Main Street to get a bite

to eat, giving passersby a chance to stop and get a good look at the antique

vehicles. Across the street, the Matthew Curtiss House was open with costumed

docents giving tours to the public.