Milton Harvest Festival Parade --Tractors!

Naturally, the Milton Harvest Festival is a celebration of this region's rural heritage.  We're very lucky to have so many family farms still dotting the landscape.  It's so different than the huge factory farms in the Midwest or the endless acres of grapes, strawberries, orange groves, and the like of California.  Surely, a Kansas sunflower field is a sight to behold.  As are the amazing acres of a California vineyard.  But, here in the Susquehanna Valley, we are lucky to have local families willing to put in the hard work it takes to bring in the crop year after year.  So, the Harvest Festival is more than just a fun time in Milton.  It is a reminder of the things that are important -- family, friends, clean water, rich soil, hard work, and good neighbors.  

John Deere Green

 This float is filled with the colors of John Deere!  John Deere tractors have helped our area farmers with their tilling, planting, and harvesting tasks for generations.  

McCormick Farmall Tractor 1941

This Farmall tractor is illustrative of the International Harvester brand -- a bright color, a comfortable name, and a machine that served as a workhorse, literally, around the farm.  For more information see: Farmall

Farmall from 1942.

Central Pennsylvania is home to many Amish and Mennonite families.  Mennonites are more modern, while Amish people still eschew machinery, electricity, and other modern advancements.  It is not uncommon to see an Amish family getting around in their horse and buggy. 

Horse-drawn wagon.

This typical Amish wagon is not hitched to a horse.  It's kind of ironic that an Amish vehicle would be towed by a mechanical conveyance!

This was probably my favorite element of the parade!  A little kid on a little tractor, towing ..........

....this!  The tires alone on this puppy are huge!  

I still have a couple of posts left to do on the Milton Harvest Festival.  Next up, a legacy of John Yingling, we'll take a look at some bands!