Vintage tractors stop in Onaway on tour across Northern Michigan
An informal group of friends and tractors lovers arrived in Rogers City on Wednesday evening in preparation for the Michigan Tractor Tour 2004. The following morning at 7 a.m., about 25 tractor drivers met at the Rogers City High School parking lot to go over the route and review safety measures. According to the organizers, the tour will cover nearly 150 miles, ending at the Northern Michigan Antique Flywheelers Show July 23, just north of Walloon Lake.
The first leg of the trip was the 22-mile jaunt along M-68 to Onaway. The entourage took a rest stop near Ocqueoc Falls before continuing to Onaway where the drivers and support teams enjoyed lunch at the Woodwinds Restaurant. Tractors and drivers from Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana are participating in the event. After stopping in Onaway, the group continued onward for another 22 miles to Indian River, where they spent the night.
From Indian River, the group will drive down old US-127, where a circle parade will be made around the Tired Iron Farm of George and Dorothy Storing. Storing, who lives in Wolverine, is a long time tractor enthusiast and friend of the tour, but due to illness was unable to make the tour. Safety and good fun are the main priorities of the tour organizers, Jim and Betty Parker of Lapeer. The vehicles will travel at a speed of around ten miles an hour, pulling over periodically to allow traffic to pass them. Part
The pledge stipulated that: drivers must obey all traffic laws and regulations; not carry passengers except on an approved buddy seat; stay with the group; drive on the shoulder of the road when necessary; not have bicycle companions; do not pull campers; and follow the designated route. The tour is the brainchild of Jim Parker and his wife Betty. Their life-long fascination with all types of farm implements and machinery has lead to a large tractor collection on the Parker farm.
Jim enrolled in a 4-H course for repairing tractors when he was only ten years old. By the time he was 12 years old, he bought an old tractor that he rebuilt and still owns today. Also among his many prized possessions is an International Harvester 300 he got new as a present when he graduated from high school in 1957.