Ft. Deposit prepares for tractor pull

Published 8:04 am Thursday, September 16, 2010

Peggy Strickland rides an antique tractor during last year’s annual Tractor Pull.

By EASON FRANKLIN
The Lowndes Signal

Some local Ft. Deposit residents are rallying their tractors for this weekend’s 9th annual Pulling in the Pines Antique Tractor Show and Pull.

The event starts at 9 a.m. and will be held on the Calico Fort grounds in Ft. Deposit on Sat., Sept. 18.

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“It’s a fun thing,” said Frieda Cross. “It’s something to get the people in the community together.”

Competitors participating in the tractor pull seat-up on their antique tractors dated before 1960 and pull sleds with weights down a track.

Judges then determine who can pull the most weight the farthest down the track.

The annual Tractor Pull started as a way for people “to show their love of tractors” and to raise money for the Ft. Deposit Volunteer Fire Department.

Since then, the event has drawn people as far away as Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, according to Cross.

The festival has been sometimes known to last until dark, but generally ends around 5 p.m.

The Tractor Pull will feature a parade of antique tractors through the Calico Fort grounds, a pedal-tractor pull for the children as well as crafts, a wing cook-off and flea market exhibitors.

Volunteer Firefighters will be cooking Boston butts and selling barbeque sandwiches. People who are participating in the wing cook-off will compete for bragging rights for next years event and will go home with a chicken-trophy.