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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 2017)
Wednesday, November 22, 2017 44TH ANNUAL HERMISTON FARM FAIR East Oregonian Page 7C Boise community center turned into ANTIQUE TRACTOR MUSEUM By SEAN ELLIS EO Media Group B OISE — Fifty antique tractors displayed in and around the $70 million community center in downtown Boise are a nod to the state’s agricultural roots. But they’re much more than that, said Rob Bearden, a mechanic who maintains them and provides tours of the tractors every Wednesday. “These aren’t just a bunch of old trac- tors,” he said. “These are national trea- sures.” The tractors are at Jack’s Urban Meet- ing Place, a recently opened community gathering center funded by the family of J.R. Simplot, who founded the J.R. Sim- plot Co., which produces frozen french fries and other agricultural products. Simplot, who died in 2008, was known as Mr. Spud because of his role in putting Idaho potatoes on the map. Bearden said farmers and other peo- ple from all over the nation and around the world have come to see the tractors, some of which are literally one of a kind or the last of their kind. “We’ve got tractors here that you’re not gong to see anywhere else,” said Bearden, who is known around the JUMP facility as the “Tractor Doctor.” “We’ve got the only ones,” he said slowly to emphasize the uniqueness of some of the tractors. “There aren’t any more.” That includes Kerosene Annie, a 1909 Rumely prototype which was only sold once, to J.R. Simplot, and a 1912 Olm- stead, a four-wheel-drive articulating tractor that is the only one left of 28 made. Idaho Farm Bureau Federation public affairs representatives Jake Putnam and Steve Ritter were the last media mem- bers to interview Simplot. Putnam remembers Simplot talking about his vision to create an agricultural museum with antique tractors and said it’s amazing to see that vision become reality. “I never get tired of going by there and looking at those tractors,” he said. “It brings agriculture to an urban setting, SEAN ELLIS/EO MEDIA GROUP Ron Bearden, a mechanic, stands next to a 1914 Avery Return Flue, one of 50 antique tractors at a community gathering place in down- town Boise. The tractors are a nod to Idaho’s agricultural roots, and some of them are the last of their kind, Bearden said. which is where it should be.” The tractors are among 110 that Sim- plot purchased in 1998 from an agricul- tural museum owned by Oscar Cooke, a Montana farmer who died in 1995. Bearden said Cooke had the largest collection of tractors and farm imple- ments in the world. “J.R. bought the best of the best,” he said. “He bought the rarest, most unique and the most diverse, oddball tractors that were out there. The scope of this stuff is awe-inspiring.” He said he’s learned a lot about many of the tractors from older farmers who visit the center. “Every day’s a school day around here,” he said. “You’re constantly learn- ing about this stuff.” The tractors date from the 1890s to 1939. Kathy O’Neill, JUMP’s community engagement director, told Capital Press in an email that Simplot was “an entre- preneur, a risk-taker, a man who followed his dreams and wanted the same for ev- eryone he met. The tractors are great icons of the agricultural past that capture that innovative and resourceful spirit that will help lead us into the future.” To sign up for a tractor tour, call (208) 639-6610 or email JUMP at tours@ jumpboise.org Let’s Grow Together Commercial & Ag Precision Irrigated Agriculture Lending BMCC Learning Facility Coming Soon to OSU Research Station in Hermiston Contact Your Local Community Bank Lending Team To Discuss Your Financing Needs Today! • • • • Commercial and Farm Real Estate Loans Business Equipment Financing Operating Lines of Credit Commercial Construction Financing Call BMCC Today! www.bluecc.edu (541) 276-1260 Local Money Working For Local People www.communitybanknet.com Member FDIC Striving to remain a positive force in Morrow and Umatilla County Communities 75906 Threemile Rd, Boardman OR 97818 www.threemilecanyonfarms.com � � � � Castle Rock Farming, LLC Columbia River Dairy, LLC Six Mile Land & Cattle, LLC Cold Springs Dairy