Land of Lincoln Expo

Here's an update on the 1st Land of Lincoln Expo held in Carlinville, IL. on June 15 - 18.  We had 307 registered full size tractors and almost 40 registered garden tractors.  We know there were a few that came in who didn't register.  A forecast of severe storms on Saturday afternoon caused many exhibitors to load up & head for safer places but about 70 tractors were sheltered overnight in cattle barns at the fairgrounds.  One of my tractors was at the show, outside, while I was at The Allis Connection show in Iowa but I found no damage to my tractor & there were no reports of any damage.  We got the rain but not the hail.  No damage to the fairgrounds, thanks to the work of the show staff & exhibitors who all acted responsibly.  If you haven't seen my previous posts, this was an all brands, no feature brand, everyone's welcome, working clothes to fully restored show.  No gate fee, no entry fee for anyone, including vendors.  Organizer Bill Miller is a John Deere guy so we had lots of green including JD's 1917 prototype tractor next to a 2017 JD "quad trac".  That's the snapshot of "A Century of Power".  Attendees voted 95% to make this an every other year show so we'll do it again in 2019.  We learned a few things during the show so we'll try to be better next time, although we had no serious complaints.  We know we need more food vendors next time & we'll collect golf cart entry fees at the gate in 2019.  We haven't set a date for 2019 & the location might change.  If you have any suggestions please contact Bill Miller at 217-502-4504 or by e-mail at shinola@royell.org.  We'd love to have more Allis Chalmers tractors at the show in 2019.