When the Esten family of Elba decided to organize a plow day 17 years ago in honor of their late father, they couldn’t have imagined how popular the event would become.
On Saturday and Sunday, the 18th annual Plow Days took place at the farm of John Torrey of Route 98, Elba, with close to 60 old tractors.
It was Louis Esten who came up with the idea for Plow Days, and in recent years his son and daughter-in-law Nick and Mandy Esten have done much of the work. It takes the better part of a week to move all of Torrey’s tractors out of the barn and set up for the event.
“We think it’s important for people, especially the younger ones, to see how things were done in the old days,” Louis said.
The lineup of red tractors on the front lawn attracted passersby each day, even someone from Erie, Pa., and Syracuse. Antique tractor collectors came from Genesee and several neighboring counties.
One of the oldest tractors to take part was Louis’s 1938 W30 McCormick Deering.
The Estens estimate they plowed nearly 75 acres of ground with the old tractors.
Top photo: Chuck Esten, of Albion, sits on one of his antique tractors with his grandsons, Benjamin, 5, and Joshua, 16, during Plow Days Saturday and Sunday. Esten’s brother Louis, of Elba, was instrumental in starting Plow Days 17 years ago.
Photos by Virginia Kropf.
