By Richard Turtle

EMC Events -Stirling – Farmers know what it means to rock and roll.

It was an agricultural version of cruise night and a first for Farmtown Park last week when Freddy Vette arrived for an evening broadcast creating an attraction for nostalgia buffs.

But instead of the polished chrome of the iconic automobiles on the roads during Elvis Presley’s heyday, it was the immaculately restored workhorses of generations ago farmers that shared the spotlight.

With the music of the 1950s and 1960s in the air and a lineup of more than three dozen classic tractors on display an estimated 250 guests arrived to take in the unusual sights and sounds at the local museum.

Farmtown Park President Ron Reid says the Wednesday night event was a huge success, bringing dozens of new visitors through the museum but the credit, he notes, belongs to Vette and Quinte Antique Tractor Club President Harry Tackaberry.

Tackaberry says Vette arrived at a tractor club meeting with the suggestion of hosting a radio show in Stirling and club members were quick to jump on board. About 40 were in attendance last week with some of their favourite tractors lined up in the parking lot where a host of curious eyes examined them closely.

Hosting the show, he says, also offered significant exposure for the museum locally and Tackaberry too was pleased with the response.

Many agreed it was the radio show that drew them to the fairgrounds and for several it was their first visit. Barbeques were set up and museum volunteers served ice cream as the weather provided a perfectly comfortable evening. For about two hours Vette worked the microphone from a small stage at the museum entrance with several visitors given the chance to send their voices over the airwaves between songs.

Reid says the exposure offered by the cruise night will help to spread the word about the features and events at the museum. Farmtown Park is expecting a busy summer, he says, with several special events planned up to and beyond the Labour Day weekend. And improvements and additions to existing displays are continuing, he adds, with ongoing community support and the help from a team of active volunteers.