By DEBORAH BEHRENDS
Illinois Correspondent

JOLIET, Ill. — The sixth annual Heritage Tractor Adventure (HTA) will roll through the communities of the Heritage Corridor on June 9-13.

This event, a partnership between Max Armstrong, WGN Radio 720 AM, and the Heritage Corridor Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) began its inaugural run in 2002 with 129 vintage tractors from 6 states.

This year, more than 300 tractors from 14 states are expected to visit Morris, Streator, Ottawa, Peru and Mendota.
HTA is a five-day event with a three-day ride with stops in LaSalle and Grundy county communities for entertainment, good food and camaraderie. Community organizations host these stops and the funds received benefit these local organizations.

Tractor games were added three years ago and have proved to be a crowd pleaser. Games this year will be held at the Dollinger Family Farm in Channahon on Sunday, June 10. The Central Illinois Green Club will organize this event which will begin at 2 p.m. and feature five different games (time permitting).

This year’s adventure will begin in Morris at the Grundy County Fairgrounds north of I-80 on Illinois Route 47. Registration dates are June 9-10. The public is invited to come out and talk to the drivers about their tractors as each has a fascinating story to tell.
You will find some truly rare and unique vintage tractors that are completely restored.

Spend a relaxing summer afternoon at the Dollinger Family Farm on Sunday, June 10. The tractors will head out that way at 12:30 p.m. after registration closes. Enjoy a pork chop dinner, tractor games and for a special treat, Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson will perform their Noon at Night Show at 5:30 p.m. No admission fee is charged for the show. Dinner tickets are $10 and must be purchased in advance by calling 866-6-TRACTOR.

On Monday, breakfast will be served by the Grundy County Farm Bureau to the drivers as they are in for the most challenging day ever on the ride. At 7:30 a.m., the opening ceremony will take place with Max Armstrong uttering the most famous words in motor sports, “Gentlemen and Ladies, start your engines.”

The tractors will leave as one group but will split into fast and slow groups.

The fast group will travel over the Illinois Route 47 bridge and take country roads into Streator where lunch will be served at the Knights of Columbus hall. This is a 40-mile route which is why the slow tractors (and some tractors that just like the scenery on the I & M Canal towpath) will hop on the towpath and drive to Ottawa where lunch will be served at Fox River Park. In the afternoon all tractors will meet up again in Utica on the towpath for their trip into Peru with a stop at the Illinois Valley Regional Airport for dinner served by the LaSalle County Farm Bureau.

Tuesday morning after breakfast the tractors will head out to Mendota where they will parade into town and stop at the Mendota Museum Complex for lunch served by the local FFA. The museums will be open and tours will be available. Tractors will then head out to Pitstick Pavilion in Ottawa on Illinois Route 23 for their evening stop and a delicious dinner. The Court Street Players will be on hand for some musical entertainment.

Bright and early Wednesday the tractors will leave Pitstick’s after breakfast and travel back to Morris where they will parade down Liberty Street for their annual parade. The parade will commence at about 11:30 a.m. and the tractors will travel back to the Grundy County Fairgrounds for the closing lunch and award ceremony.

The public is encouraged to come out and view the tractors and to join the tractor drivers at their meal stops. All meal tickets are to be purchased in advance by calling 866-6-TRACTOR. For more, visit www.HeritageTractorAdventure.com

The Heritage Tractor Adventure is produced annually under the direction of Mary Beth DeGrush, vice president of the Heritage Corridor Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). The Heritage Corridor CVB encourages economic development through tourism promotion in the communities and counties along the nation’s first National Heritage Corridor.