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Seventy-seven tractors were registered Friday morning for the annual Rock County Tractor Ride, which started and ended at the Luverne City Park.
The destination this year was the South Dakota Veterans Cemetery and a Bluestem catered meal at Roger Lundstra’s air-conditioned shop near Brandon.
The day’s journey was 55 miles in all.
“It was a great ride,” said Ken Vos, who has been organizing the event for six years. “We couldn’t ask for a better day.”
He said the group includes mostly John Deere and Farmall tractors and mostly from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, but there are many different kinds — Allis Chalmers, Ford, Oliver, Minneapolis Moline and others.
They came from all over the tri-state region, as far away as Butterfield and many from Sioux Center, Iowa, and Sioux County in Iowa.
While 77 tractors started the cross-county ride, not all of them made the complete trip.
“There were some break-downs, and one even started on fire and burned to the ground,” Vos said, adding that no one was hurt in the fire that happened in South Dakota on the return trip.
“These are old tractors and you can expect some things to happen.”
Vos works with fellow tractor enthusiasts Rodger Ossenfort and Verlyn Van Batavia on the tractor ride planning, including routes, itineraries and food and beverages.
Vos said the Veterans Cemetery tour was led by Luverne native Erin (Lammert) Brown. “She did a nice job,” Vos said. “It was very interesting.”
CHS elevator provided coffee and donuts for the gathering at the city park that started at 7:30 a.m., and Sunshine Foods in Luverne served ice cream at the park when the group returned home at 3:30 p.m.