ARNIE HOLLINGSWORTH

I started writing these articles because it sounded fun. And as I’ve mentioned before, it is. I thought it would be fun to see the words I wrote printed and distributed in the newsletter, and it is. But the best part is having the opportunity to sit down with FRAPA members, shoot the breeze, take some notes, learn a bunch of interesting stuff….and laugh! And that is exactly what happened when I interviewed Arnie Hollingsworth. I laughed a lot. Arnie is not only a very nice guy, he is also entertaining in a number of ways. For those of you that know Arnie, I’m sure you would agree.

Arnie is another Colorado native. He was born in a sod house in eastern Colorado, out near Last Chance, and he grew up on a nearby farm with his parents and three brothers. He went to school in Deer Trail, Colorado and, like some of the other guys I have written about, Arnie attended a one-room school house for the first four years. He later graduated from Deer Trail High School.

As Arnie told me, growing up back then was a lot different than it is today. People had to work hard where he came from and he told me, “The good old days were full of hard work”. One job he shared with his brothers was herding sheep. He told me that growing up on the plains offered the opportunity to see things most other people never get to see. He told the story about something he saw that I thought was interesting; he once watched a bull snake fight a rattle snake. He said the bull snake wrapped up the rattle snake and the rattler ended up biting itself and it died! He was correct, not many of us have had the chance to watch that happen!

Arnie met his wife Jolette in Strasburg and the two were married in Denver in 1959. They have a daughter, Linda, and a son, Brock.

After Arnie and Jolette were married they lived in Deer Trail and Arnie became an over-the-road truck driver. After doing that for a while he started working construction and they moved around some. From 1960 to 1964 Arnie worked in different parts of Colorado and the state of Washington doing concrete work paving missile silos. A career change came in 1964 when Arnie trained to be an auto mechanic and started working at car dealerships. In 1971 he started teaching at Denver Automotive and Diesel College, and then later taught Auto Tech at Sheridan High School. Arnie spent nine hours a day lecturing and teaching. Some of that was classroom time and some was hands-on training. During this time Brock started to read and study the manual Arnie taught from. Arnie said that becoming a mechanic was the only thing Brock ever wanted to do…once again, I guess that apple didn’t fall from the tree.

Through all of this Arnie prayed that one day he would have his own shop. His prayers were answered in 1976 when Arnie bought a business, Edwards Specialized Auto Service, which was located near Federal and Florida in Denver. Arnie finally had his own shop!

While Arnie and his family lived in Englewood, they acquired some mountain property through inheritance up near LeVeta, Colorado. Arnie shared a number of stories about that too, but I don’t think I can take up the space needed in the newsletter to tell you all of those stories! I’ll just tell you about the one I liked best; a couple of friends had a camper on the mountain property and one night while the two of them were in that camper a bear tried to get in to get some food. The next week one of the guys invited Arnie up because he “wasn’t comfortable being alone with the bears.” Against his better judgment, Arnie went along. About an hour after he went to bed that night his friend woke him up and told him, “I think we have company.” They shined a light out the window and were looking right at a bear and his buddy tells him, “Don’t worry, he’s the nice one and he doesn’t give us any trouble.”

Arnie slept in the truck.

For those of you that have been able to join us on the tractor rides, you know that Arnie is a great guitar player and singer. Arnie started playing in 1956 where he played in a bunk house on a ranch where he worked. He started building guitars in 1971 and has done it ever since. He makes them out of maple, mahogany, walnut, spruce, and cedar and each one takes about two weeks to make. He builds electric guitars and acoustic guitars and most are made-to-order. He does keep a few to use as demos and he still has the first one he ever made. In addition to building guitars, Arnie also gives guitar lessons and repairs guitars. Needless to say, he keeps busy.

In 1998 they bought land out by Strasburg where they currently live. Then in 1999 Arnie retired and sold his shop. Arnie and Brock built the shop by the house in 2001 and they used an Allis Chalmers WD to do it. Brock and his family now live just up the road from Arnie and Jolette.

Growing up on the farm, Arnie’s dad had John Deere tractors. With a smile on his face he told me he used to tell his brother that “Dad didn’t know what a good tractor was.” Arnie now has six or seven tractors but his favorite is a 1936 Allis Chalmers model U. He enjoys plowing with this one and he still participates in tractor pulls when they’re close to home. In the late 1980s a friend of his and FRAPA member, Joe Krehbiel, introduced him to the club and he joined.

Another favorite tractor of his that he likes to use is an Oliver 66 that he bought from FRAPA member Nick Drobnitch.

Arnie also spends a fair amount of time working on tractors with another FRAPA member, Ray Longwell. Ray also lives in Strasburg, which is handy!

I asked Arnie if he had any favorite FRAPA events and he said no, no favorite events. He just really enjoys the people.

Like all great organizations, it’s the people that make them what they are and Arnie is one of the great ones that help make FRAPA what it is.

Until next time, enjoy the club! Brandon Engelsman

 

 

Clint Rau

     Clint was born in Logan County, North Dakota, just north of the town of Napoleon.  He was born on the family farm and so were his two younger sisters.  Clint’s grandmother was the midwife that helped deliver the three babies.

     Clint’s dad started farming with horses and in 1941 he bought a new John Deere B.  Today this tractor is owned by Clint’s sister and it enjoys the easy life…no farming, only parades and hay rides.  (I know of a few other tractors that enjoy that retired life!)  In 1945 his dad bought a farm outside Streeter, North Dakota and in 1949 he bought himself a new John Deere A with a 3-bottom plow, a packer and a pony drill.  The farm was two miles outside of town and the dealer drove the tractor out to demonstrate it.  The tractor was equipped with hydraulics and Clint was taught to operate it at the age of 8.

     On their farm they grew wheat, oats, barley, corn, flax, hay, silage, and cattle and in the summer it was Clint’s job to cultivate the corn with the JD B.  Clint’s dad later added Powr-Trol hydraulics so Clint could raise and lower the cultivator.

     Growing up, Clint always thought he’d be a farmer but it didn’t turn out that way.  He graduated from high school in 1959 and stayed at home for the next four years.  During this time he ran his own roller skating company.  That’s right, roller skating!  Clint went to four different towns and rented buildings that were big enough to skate in.  He owned his own equipment that he took from town to town and he rented it to the skaters.  They had a skate night four nights a week, one night in each town.

     In March, 1963, Clint joined the Navy and was sent to San Diego for basic training, then to a school in Great Lakes, Illinois where he trained to be a diesel mechanic.  In November, 1963, he was sent to Key West, Florida and was stationed on the USS Brough.  This boat was a destroyer escort ship and their job was to guard the destroyers.  Their mission was to patrol the Cuban coastline during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  They picked up Russian ships and followed them into Cuba, waited for them, then followed them back out.  One night he and a few others were out on the back of the ship and all of a sudden they were bathed in light and a voice came out of the darkness telling them they were too close to shore.  They were not supposed to get within ten miles of shore but had drifted closer than they thought.  They left, but had no idea if they would be attacked!  Clint served on that ship for two years before they decommissioned it.  The USS Brough was the last destroyer escort in service.  Once the ship was decommissioned, Clint was eligible for another school so he was sent to Norfolk, Virginia for helicopter maintenance school for three months.

     Clint then served on board the USS Shenandoah, which was a Destroyer Tender Repair Ship.  Clint describes this ship as a large floating machine shop and its main function was to pull up next to destroyers and tie up so the mechanics from Clint’s ship could go aboard the destroyer to do repair work.  On this ship, Clint worked on radio-controlled helicopters that were launched from the ship armed with two torpedoes.  These unmanned helicopters were rather small; the skids were about 5’ apart with the two torpedoes mounted between.  They had a turbine engine, a transmission, and the back of the helicopter was all electronics.  There was no tail rotor on these because they had counter-rotating blades and the tips extended to make it turn.  These were flown off the deck with a controller, much like a radio-controlled car, and this was done by sight.  Once it was launched the people in a room on the ship, called the Control Center, picked them up by radar.  At the same time they used sonar to detect enemy submarines.  On their screens the controllers would see a green dot (the helicopter) and a red dot (the submarine) and would fly the green dot above the red dot and release the torpedoes, then the helicopter would return to the ship and the guys on the deck would land it by remote control.

     Clint was discharged from the Navy in March, 1967.  After his discharge, Clint went back to the family farm.  There was a drought that year and the crops were poor so he went back to school in September, 1967 to learn about aircraft maintenance.  He graduated in September, 1968 and was hired by Northwest Airlines in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He worked there for two months and then they went on strike.  He was then hired by Fleet Airlines in Minneapolis.  That airline went bankrupt in 1970 so Clint took a part time job greasing trucks.  They soon realized they needed to do mechanical repairs on the trucks so Clint became their mechanic.

     In 1976, Clint started his own business called Field maintenance.  He built this up to 2 shifts with six mechanics on each shift.  This was a very successful business that he later “sold”.  In 1991 he started another business, Rau Truck Service, and this time he did it alone.  This business was also quite successful and was strictly mobile.  Clint was a certified DOT inspector for the state of Minnesota and his biggest account was Atlas Van Lines.  They hired Clint to inspect their trucks every six months.  He sold that business in 2003 and moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

     Clint is also a pilot and has owned numerous planes.  While living in Minnesota in 1998, Clint reunited with a childhood friend, Bernice, a resident of Arvada, Colorado, and they started dating.  Clint would fly his plane to Jeffco airport to see Bernice or she would fly to see Clint.   They got married in 2007 and that was when Clint sold his plane.  They now live in Arvada, Colorado and Clint has a nice three-car garage where he works on cars and tractors.  Clint has two sons.  The oldest is in the truck repair business and the youngest is a pilot and flies C-130s for the Wyoming Air National Guard.  I guess the apples didn’t fall far from the tree!

     Clint has a nice 1960 Chevrolet Impala 2-door hardtop, a 1947 John Deere M, numerous John Deere H tractors, two John Deere B’s, and a John Deere 70.  Clint bought the 70 on an auction in North Dakota and brought it home.  He started working on it and when he took the hood off he found the instrument panel to be full of soot.  He thought that looked familiar and did some checking.  It turns out that this used to be his father’s tractor and he had no idea it was the same one when he bought it!  It was in a fire when his dad owned it and in the fire, the tires were burned and the sheet metal had to be replaced.  In 1969 his dad traded it in on a John Deere 4020 and it was later sold to the farmer Clint bought it from.  Amazing!

     In 2005, while Clint was in town visiting Bernice, he was told of the tractor show at the Westminster Mall.  They went to look but there were no FRAPA members around.  In 2006 he came to the same show where he met Les Parker.  Les showed him around and Clint joined the club.

     Clint likes the camaraderie of the club members and he likes the “old iron”.  His favorite club events are plowing, Pumpkin Fest, the Greeley Show and the show in Victor.  He especially enjoyed helping Steve and Wes Stratman with their displays at that show in 2010.  As nice as Clint is, and as helpful as he is, I’m sure Steve and Wes enjoyed it just as much as Clint did!

     At the beginning of this article I told you that Clint said his story wasn’t interesting.  I certainly disagree and I think you might, too!

 

Until next time, enjoy the club!

 

Submitted by Brandon Engelsman

 

 

 

Bill Vetos

 

     This is now the fifth Gettin’ to Know article I have written for the FRAPA newsletter.  Each time I write one I enjoy the process a little more.  I learn about the people I interview and write about and I find out what is important to each of them.  Before writing this one, I went back and read the previous four articles and that was when it hit me that these articles have quickly become something to me that is a lot more meaningful than a simple article; I’m strengthening the friendship I share with each person I write about.  The subject of this article is Bill Vetos and I can tell you that the connection my family has made with Bill and his family in the past couple of years runs a lot deeper than I realized.  And for that reason, this article is a pleasure to write.

     Bill was raised on a farm near Beresford, South Dakota where they grew corn, beans, oats, and where they raised cattle and hogs.  During those years Bill’s dad, Joe, had a Ford 2N that he bought new in 1946, a Farmall Regular and a Massey Harris model 30.  In fact, when Bill was 5 years old his dad had him run the 2N while Joe operated the binder Bill was pulling!  Then, in 1952, Bill’s dad bought a brand new Minneapolis Moline model Z.

     Growing up, Bill did the majority of the mechanical work on the farm himself.  In his senior year of high school Bill overhauled and repainted their Massey Harris 30.

     After graduation in 1959 Bill farmed a quarter-section with his dad for about three years.  Then, in 1962, Bill went on the road selling steam cleaners for the Sioux Steam Cleaner Company.  He sold these mainly to implement and car dealerships.  This was a job Bill enjoyed while traveling around South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Missouri.

     In 1964 Bill joined the Air National Guard in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  He was then sent to Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas for basic training.  After basic training he was sent to radar school at Lowery Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado.  Bill then returned to South Dakota for a very short time before coming back to Denver.

     He started selling pressure washers in the Denver area and one day visited a beer distributor in Aurora, Colorado.  That sale turned out to be “the perfect sale” and lucky for Bill it was witnessed by a man that worked for Transport Pool.  This man later offered Bill a job and in February, 1967, Bill went to work for him.

     Then in 1972 Bill worked for a company that leased semi trucks to railroads.  Here he made contact with the Denver Rio Grande Railroad.  Bill then started his own company, K&B Services and contracted to operate the piggy-back ramp for Denver Rio Grande.  Their job was to back semi trailers onto railroad cars for shipment.  This contract was maintained until 1994.

     In 1980 Bill met his lovely wife Rosemary.  They started a new company called Complete Container Services in September, 1980.  Bill and Rosemary operated both K&B Services and Complete Container Services until 1994, when K&B’s contract with the railroad ended.  Once K&B went out of business they phased the trucking part of that company into Complete Container Services.  At that time the main functions of their company were storage, trucking, and shipping container repair.  During much of this time Bill did his own mechanical work.  He learned a great deal about diesel engines from a good friend of his, Duane Kaufman, who was the Fleet Manager for the Rio Grande Motorway.

     In 1993 Bill bought a John Deere 820 from a widow in Washington County, Colorado for $750.  The tractor was not running so Bill did a full restoration in his garage.  To this day that 820 is Bill’s favorite tractor.

     In 1997 Bill attended a parade in his home town in South Dakota.  He spotted a Minneapolis Moline model Z and immediately recognized the concrete in the rear wheels that his dad used as wheel weights.  Bill contacted the owner and made him “an offer he couldn’t refuse” and bought back his dad’s old tractor.  That tractor is now one of many in his collection.

     In 2001 Bill and Rosemary bought property in Golden, Colorado and they moved into a house on that property.  In 2003 they built their building that houses their collection and they started building their new house in 2005 and moved in last year.

     Bill had an employee, Mike Konecney, who was friends with FRAPA member Steve Logan.  Bill found out about the club through Steve and he joined FRAPA in 1997.  One interesting note: Bill has in his collection a beautiful John Deere B.  This tractor belonged to Steve Logan and was sold to Mike Konecney.  Mike began restoring the tractor and disassembled it.  Prior to completion, Mike passed away.  Mike’s mother then sold the tractor to Bill and Bill had it professionally restored by another FRAPA member.

     Bill has approximately seventy tractors and other pieces of equipment.  Included in that collection are John Deere, Minneapolis Moline, Case, Farmall, Massey Harris, Allis Chalmers, Oliver, Ford, and one General.  He also has numerous Caterpillar crawlers and dozers and many implements.

     Bill would like to find a John Deere 2-cylinder high crop tractor, a Rumely, and a Waterloo Boy to add to his collection.  He also plans to start a museum some day.

     Bill and Rosemary have three daughters, Jennifer, Julie, and Abigail, and all three work for Complete Container Services.  They also have a new granddaughter, Ava.

     Bill is active with FRAPA and enjoys the club.  What he enjoys most are the people, the friendship, and the helpful nature of the club members.  His favorite FRAPA events are Pumpkin Fest, Cider Days, and the Stock Show Parade.

     For those of you that were able to attend the 2010 Christmas Party, you were lucky enough to spend the day with the Vetos family, tour their beautiful home, and view their collection.  The fact that they invited us all into their home just proves how generous these people are.  And that is precisely the reason my family has developed such a close relationship with Bill and his family.  In my opinion, those relationships are what FRAPA is all about.

 

Until next time, enjoy the club!

 

                                                                                                    Submitted by Brandon Engelsman

 

 

Larry Bauer          

 

Have you ever heard the saying, “I bleed green”?  Well, I don’t know of anyone in the club that fits that more than Larry Bauer!  In fact, when it comes to tractors, I’m not entirely sure if Larry even knows they come in other colors.  Well, it’s not that bad, but he does love those John Deere tractors.

     This is a special version of this article for me because, if not for Larry Bauer, I may never have joined FRAPA.  In 2006 I got a phone call from a friend telling me about a tractor show at the Westminster Mall.  It didn’t take long before the whole family was in the car and heading to Westminster.  We started looking around and the first person we met was Larry.  He took us around and showed us all the displays and explained FRAPA to us.  We joined right then and there!

     Larry was born and raised about ten miles outside Sidney, Nebraska.  (He was born one day after my dad, Jim Engelsman)  Larry’s father farmed about 1200 acres and grew beans, sugar beets, corn, alfalfa, and wheat.  When Larry was six years old his dad took him out to the wheat field at harvest time and taught him how to drive.  What he learned to drive was a 2-ton Chevy truck with a hand throttle!  Larry drove the truck while his dad drove the combine.  At an early age he also drove a Ford 8N tractor raking hay and cultivated with a John Deere MT.  He later spent time running the other tractors on the farm.  They had a John Deere 60, a John Deere 70 Standard Diesel, a John Deere 420 and an International Super M.

     When Larry was growing up his father had a hired man by the name of Jake Dienes.  Jake did about everything around the farm and he taught Larry how to set the irrigation lines among other things.  (During this interview it became quite clear to me that Jake Dienes meant a great deal to Larry and his family.)  In 1958 Larry’s father was involved in a car accident and was unable to work on the farm.  In his absence Larry and his mother fed the cattle twice a day and Larry and Jake did all of the farming.

     In 1964, Larry’s senior year of high school, a business school from Denver was in Sidney for their Career Day.  Larry, along with a friend, made the decision to come to Denver to attend Parks School of Business.  They enrolled in two-year punch card programming course.  Prior to graduation Larry was hired by Wolf Research and Development.  They worked on a Department of Defense contract at Ent Air Force Base where, at that time, NORAD was based.  They had vacuum tube computers that were fed military and satellite data.  That information was then converted to punch cards and loaded into the system.

     Then in 1966 Larry was sent for a military physical.  His father later called him from Nebraska to notify him that his draft notice had arrived.  Rather than join the Army, Larry enlisted in the Marines.  He was then sent to San Diego for basic training and was later assigned to the combat engineers unit at Camp Lejeune, NC.  Around this time Larry visited a cousin that lived in Washington DC.  His cousin shared an apartment with three other guys and in the apartment next door were four girls.  One of those girls was Jenny, Larry’s future wife.

     Larry served in the Mediterranean and visited places such as Rome, Naples, Venice, and Munich.  He was later sent to the Caribbean and was stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for 4 ½ months.  Larry left the Marines as a Corporal.

     After his military service Larry was hired as a computer operator for the FBI and worked in Washington DC at the NCIC which was the only computer center the FBI had at the time.  Larry didn’t like DC so he returned to Sidney in 1969 and was later hired by the state of Colorado as a computer operator.  There they processed all motor vehicle records, drivers’ licenses, income tax, and all other major tax such as liquor and sales tax.

     Later that year Jenny moved to Denver and they got married in November.  One year later she started working for the state of Colorado as well.  Larry worked for the state for 31 years and retired on January 1, 2000.  Larry and Jenny have one daughter, Amy, who is also a FRAPA member.

     In 1978 they had a house built and around that time he found a new hobby…tractors!  He bought a 1954 John Deere 60, then a 1950 John Deere G (this one will not be restored).  This tractor was sold new at Sidney Implement.  In fact, Larry now owns four tractors that were originally sold at that dealership.

     In the early 1980’s Larry heard about a tractor pull at Stephens Equipment in Franktown, Colorado.  FRAPA had a table set up there and Larry joined the club.  At that time he was working so he didn’t get too involved in the events but that has certainly changed now!

     Larry now owns 19 tractors.  When I asked him which one of the 19 was his favorite, he told me “The 1929 D and all of the G’s”.  I then asked what he would like to get to add to the collection and he said he’d like another Unstyled A with round spoke wheels.

     Larry enjoys the hobby and especially the shows, the parades, and the restoration work and his favorite FRAPA event is Pumpkin Fest.

     Since joining FRAPA Larry has served in a number of capacities.  He has served as Historian, Board Member, Secretary, and now as Vice President.

     There are quite a few FRAPA members that contribute to the club but I don’t know of any that does more for us than Larry Bauer.  It is members like him, who have a passion for the hobby and a dedication to the club, that make it so enjoyable for the rest of us.  If you enjoy FRAPA and our events, be sure to thank Larry.

 

Until next time, enjoy the club!                                                        Submitted by Brandon Engelsman

 

 

Steve Logan

   

      With over 325 active members of FRAPA and with only six issues of the FRAPA newsletter published each year, it’s going to be hard to decide who to write about since each member has a story and so far, all have been quite interesting.  This time, however, that decision was not hard for me to make at all.  You see, I think getting to know your neighbor is a good thing.

     I live in Arvada, Colorado and Steve Logan lives in Lakewood, Colorado, but he lives about three blocks away from the house where I grew up and he’s lived there for the past 18 years.   However, until I joined FRAPA, we’d never had a chance to meet.  But in the past five years our families have become very good friends and because of that, I think you all should get to know Steve Logan.

     Steve Logan was born and raised outside the small town (population 95) of Quitman, Missouri (pronounced Missour-uh!) where his family rented a small 5 to 6 acre farm.  During that time his dad did some farming and they raised corn, milo, and pigs.  They also grew raspberries in a large patch from which Steve would pick the raspberries to take into town to sell.  In addition to all of this, Steve would work for other local farmers.

     Steve’s family farmed with a few different tractors including a Massey Harris 44 and a Case VAC.  Because of its size, the Case was mostly used to cultivate their garden.  Steve also spent a lot of time on an Allis Chalmers that was owned by the landlord.  Steve told me the story of how, when he was young, he would walk over this hill and wait for his neighbor to pick him up on that Allis Chalmers tractor.  Steve would ride around all day with him working the fields.

     During the school break at the end of 1963, Steve’s family relocated to Commerce City, Colorado.  City life was a big change for the family.  For Steve it was a big change having to travel so far to school because in Missouri the school was just across the railroad tracks.  Having neighbors so close by took a little getting used too as well.  Since the houses were so close together she was afraid that any noise they made would be heard so his mother kept reminding him to be quiet because “he was in the city now”.

     Steve graduated from Adams City High School where he received machine shop training.  After graduation Steve joined the Air Force.  Steve served in Vietnam in 1969 and was there for five months.  While there he repaired radar and radios for the planes that took pictures used to make maps to assist bombers.  Steve spent his time in 2 or 3 man stations which was dangerous.  They used to try to “hide” in the jungle even though they had a 50 ft. antennae sticking up through the trees!

     When Steve came back from military service he returned to school to resume his training as a machinist.  It just so happened that his teacher was the same one he had in high school.  At that time there weren’t many jobs but Steve’s teacher helped place him in a small shop.  Next door to that shop was a custom paint shop.  Steve started working there as well and that eventually turned into a full-time position.  Steve began prepping and then went into painting and he did that work for about five years.

     Then, in 1976, Steve met Pat, his future wife.  Steve knew Pat’s uncle and they met through him.  Steve later worked at a chrome shop in Westminster, Colorado that was owned by Pat’s family. They later sold that business but Steve stayed on as an employee.  Steve became friends with one of their customers who was a millwright and together they started building custom motorcycles.  This led Steve down a path into an apprenticeship for the millwright union while still building bikes.

     Steve eventually became a millwright and did that work for 28 years.  This work included the fabrication, moving, and placing of machinery that weighed up to 200 tons.  One job they had was to place and level large machines that needed to be level within a couple thousandths of an inch from one end to the other.  Another notable job was at the American Railroad Test Center near Pueblo, Colorado.  The railroad companies would bring in test equipment from Chicago to test and it was Steve’s responsibility to move test cars that weighed up to 100 tons onto a U-shaped track that was about 300 feet long.  The train would rock back-and-forth until it came to a stop and this was done to test rails and ties.  Another job involved a simulator of a 100-car train that was meant to test brake systems.  They used a dynamometer to read the desired speed and then hit the brakes to see how long the pads would last.

     Steve now works as a maintenance mechanic repairing pumps, agitators and other equipment for a pharmaceutical company in Boulder, Colorado.

     So how did Steve get involved with FRAPA?  In 1991 Pat brought home a Westward magazine that contained an advertisement for Cider Days in Lakewood.  Steve saw the ad and wanted to see the show so he went, met the guys from FRAPA and joined the club.  At that time Steve owned a 1941 John Deere model B tractor.  That tractor was later sold to a childhood friend of Pat’s, Mike Konecne.  Mike disassembled the tractor for restoration but passed away prior to finishing the project.  Mike was also a friend of FRAPA member Bill Vetos.  Bill bought that tractor from Mike’s mother and then had it restored. 

     Steve has been a FRAPA board member for about nine years now.  He owns a 1948 John Deere B, an Allis Chalmers WD, a John Deere L, and an International LB stationary engine.  Steve likes all tractors but his favorite to drive is the John Deere.

     As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Steve lives only a few blocks away from the house I grew up in.  My parents still live there and that is where the majority of our tractor collection is kept.  Since we joined FRAPA five years ago there have been a lot of trips to Steve’s on different tractors (and more than a few beverages consumed at the end of those trips!).  It’s a fun hobby we share and Steve is a great guy to share it with.  If you don’t know Steve, you should!

 

Until next time, enjoy the club!

 

                                                                                                       Submitted by Brandon Engelsman