Antique farm equipment show planned
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on May 1, 2007 1:49 PM
The Sixth Annual Antique Farm Equipment Days will be held this weekend and will feature a rare steam engine manufactured by a local company.
The event will be held Friday and Saturday at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. Gates open at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday and close at 5 p.m. both days. An opening ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday followed by an 11 a.m. parade.
On display will be close to 100 tractors and another 50-some engines. And for the children on Saturday, there will be a kiddie tractor pull, a pedal tractor race, face painting, balloons and clowns. The adults will have a tractor rodeo Saturday.
Admission to this year's event is free.
The antique farm equipment show is being held by the Eastern Carolina Vintage Farm Equipment Club.
Club member Mac Kornegay discovered the old steam engine, which was made by Dewey Bros. Inc. The manufacturing plant was on Center Street near the site of the Little Bank .
The 942-cubic inch engine with a 10-inch bore and a 12-inch stroke was made some time around the early 1920s.
Kornegay discovered the old engine in November at an abandoned saw milll in woods near Benson. The engine had been used to run the saw mill, and after it was abandoned, the engine was discarded.
"I'd love for somebody to come up with some information about it," he said. "We don't know if there were more made after that. This is the only one I know of that is in existence."