Cancer awareness has been added to a list of community service projects undertaken by members of the Flint Hills Antique Power Association.
The association, organized for people interested in restoring old tractors and other farm machinery, decided some time ago that it needed to branch out into activities and events that raise funds for good causes.
A 1940-ish Allis Chalmers “C” tractor is the latest effort by the group.
“I’d had the tractor seven or eight years,” said club member Elton Jensen, who suggested the pink tractor plan to the rest of the group. “I finally decided to do something with it.”
The idea to dedicate the tractor to promoting cancer awareness came from a conversation Jensen had with a truck driver who was helping unload a trailer at Sutherland’s, where Jensen oversees the garden department. The driver, who was from Kentucky, was wearing a cap with an International logo in the front. For Jensen, an Allis Chalmers fan, the hat was cause for some good-natured ribbing.
“I made fun of it,” he said. “I said, ‘It’s the wrong color.’”
The conversation that ensued eventually included information about an H-Farmall tractor an antique power association in Kentucky had painted in the pink shade so closely identified with breast cancer awareness.
“He said he was astonished at how much goodwill they got out of it,” Jensen said.
The driver talked about the pink tractor’s appearance in a parade in his home state, Kentucky.
“All of a sudden, six women walked up and took their hats off,” Jensen said.
The show of solidarity with the tractor and its driver revealed hair loss by all of the women who were walking beside the tractor.
“They’d all had cancer treatment,” Jensen said.
When he proposed the idea to the local antique-power association, members all agreed to the project. Many of them already had experienced cancer within their own families and were eager to take part in something to help other victims.
Completing the restoration became a community project, involving work by members of the FHAPA, with donations from local businesses.
Rob Gordon was in charge of getting commitments for materials. O’Reilly Auto Parts provided the paint and Stan Fowler, owner of Printing Plus and also a member of FHAPA, created and donated the numerous cancer-related decals that decorate the old Allis Chalmers “C.”
Williams Automotive rebuilt the radiator and Mast Engineering fabricated a new grill to replace one that had disintegrated.
Club members Gary Watts restored the tractor to running condition and Cecil Cunningham sandblasted and painted it.
The tractor — now with a smooth coat of pink on its body, seat and hubs — is intended to raise awareness of cancer in general, and breast cancer in particular. FHAPA members will use it in parades and other events to help raise funds for cancer-related expenses.
“We want to keep it local,” Jensen said. “That’s what our goal is. We’d like to keep it local. ... I’m not stingy, but I’m pretty particular who I donate to because I want to know who’s getting the money.”
The tractor will be available to display for any fundraising events in this area that focus on cancer awareness. It already has been booked for the Flint Hills Rodeo parade next month, and club members hope to coax Joyce French into driving it in the parade.
It also will sit at the Flinthills Mall during October as part of Cancer Awareness Month.
“Anything within reason in the Emporia area,” is how Jensen described the intended scope of the tractor’s appearances. “We’ll take it to Hartford, Olpe” and other area towns for special events.
The tractor will have a covered container in which people can place donations, if they wish.
The club plans to purchase a miniature pink tractor as a prize in a raffle they plan to hold later.
The FHAPA also sponsors several tractor pulls each year, in addition to teaching tractor safety for 4-H Club members and giving hayrack rides for special events, like a petting zoo this week at the fairgrounds.
The old tractors, Jensen said, are becoming more and more popular, as people realize that pieces of history will slip away if they’re not salvaged and restored.
Some of the members have done meticulous restorations on the antique power equipment.
“We’re trying to keep our history,” Jensen said, pointing out differences between the old tractors and today’s modern and massive equipment.
The pink tractor, which cost about $900 new, has about 18 horsepower.
“These things are toys,” Jensen said of the old Allis Chalmers, “compared to what they use today. Today, they’re about 400 horsepower.”
Club members usually take 70 to 80 of the antique tractors to the Lyon County Free Fair, to give fairgoers an opportunity to see the changes that have been made in farm equipment.
About 85 people are members of the FHAPA, which includes the Lyon County area and stretches to Council Grove, Osage City, Topeka, Maple Hill and Iola.
“We’re just a bunch of old farmers, trying to regain our childhood,” Jensen said.