The Florida Flywheelers grounds in Fort Meade each February is a huge flea market and antique tractor show combined. This fun-in-the-sun show and village is a mecca to antique tractor collectors seeking reprieve from the Midwest’s harsh winters. In the village one of the buildings is filled with a player piano and array of instruments. Nearby, many were attracted to a unique vehicle that belongs to Lucy and Bobby Conner. “It is called the Solo Cup,” Lucy said, adding that Bobby built it. “It started out as the bottom of a zero-turn motor.” She pointed out the steering wheel is made out of antlers. Inside the building they own, she showed other things built by Bobby, along with some of her fascinating history of growing up on a multigenerational tobacco farm. “I am now retired,” she said. “I grew flue leafy tobacco that you heat leaf by leaf. I used to take it to market; now you contract it. During the (19)30’s and ‘40’s, they used to pray before the markets opened,” she added as an aside. When she got ready to take her product to market, she would tie it up in bundles and place it in a basket to weigh it. Lucy had a marketing technique for when she took her tobacco to the market: “I carried it in the day before and fluffed it up to make it look better. I would get ready to present it, make it look fashionable.” Speaking of fashionable – or what was once fashionable – in the flea market section was a fun old hippie van that has been everywhere. The 1960s van moves according to the man setup in the tent area. Its owner drove to the show from Crystal Lake, Fla., and the van has been on the covers of several magazines. Part of the lure of the Florida Flywheelers is its buildings, where collectors store their favorite tractor brand. Charlie Oats of Hopkinsville, Ky., has such a building where he keeps his beloved Fords. “I started out collecting toys,” he said. “A newspaper picked up my story and the Associated Press shared it, and it went everywhere. It even went to Europe.” Charlie had a farm toy store in Hopkinsville, along with some lovely tractors. Visitors were stopping by to chat it up with him and see what was new and different. “I thought I was done buying,” he said, “but then I found a pretty rare Ford 941 single front-wheel tractor for vegetables.” Of course, he had to have it! Next door to Charlie’s is Bruce O’Neil’s building, where he has a beautiful Mack truck and other family collectibles. Outside is what they think is a Keystone Well Drill, circa 1919, that was attached to a Ford Model T chassis. “I bought this eight years ago outside of Gainesville. It was originally from Pennsylvania,” Bruce explained. He is interested in Model Ts, so this combination caught his eye. “It was used until 1953. This kind of water well drilling was called a ‘thumping machine’ because it crushes through the rock. They had a baler bald out the rock and the water; it was a long process.” Bruce bought this machine five years ago and restored it. “‘I got it running. It is not a well driller, but a water system to put a well in.” Collecting antique tractors is a family thing for Dale Vanelli. He and his wife have two children and one granddaughter. “They are all into the hobby. We go by the ‘Good Ol’ Boys,’ because there are 120 of us that work together, and if it wasn’t for the great group I couldn’t do it – so we are a band, all of us.” Dale is originally from up north, but now lives in Palm Beach. “We were dairy farmers in Pennsylvania; now we are vegetable farmers. We moved here in 1960,” he said. “Dad came here for two winters and fell in love.” They have their own building with some amazing John Deere green on display, but this year they shared some beautiful red equipment as well. There was a lot of it, in fact, since Farmall was the featured brand at the Flywheelers this year. Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication. Learn more of Cindy’s finds and travel in her blog, “Traveling Adventures of a Farm Girl,” at http://travelingadventuresofafarmgirl.com |
