A post from Kelli–
As I’ve said before, I live in the middle of nowhere. Technically I’m closer to Castalia, but my address is Ossian. It takes about 10 minutes to get to either, but I claim Castalia. Castalia is the town we lived closer to before we moved to the farm and it’s the town that Jason claimed growing up. It’s the town where my church is, where Grandma Lois lives and it’s where one of my favorite dive bars is. It may not be the town for everyone, but I sure love it!
Every summer, Castalia hosts Castalia Tractor Days. Up until recently, it really was just one day, but it sounded odd being called Castalia Tractor Day. I think that I especially hold it dear because it was one of the first times I went with Jason somewhere and met his extended family. The main attraction of the event is the Tractor Days parade. For the parade, area farmers and tractor collectors get their best stuff shined up and drive through town, throwing candy and handing out treats–And my favorite–string cheese!
Jason’s grandpa passed away a few years ago, but when Jason was little, he has said that his Grandpa would start working a few days before the parade to try and get “things” ready for the grandkids to drive–whether it be a motorcycle, a tractor, or some kind of find that he came upon.
Here is Jason’s cousin Kayden driving one of Grandpa Ray’s finds–
I brought Puppycat with this year too. It was a pretty hot day, so I brought her some water too. For it being her first year, she did pretty good and only got loose once.
My favorite part though is the pride that the community takes in their farming heritage.
They end up having all kids of entries in the parade!
Here are two brother’s promoting their family trucking business.
Here’s another that I thought was neat!
My favorite though, was this one–
If you look really close, you’ll see a little dog riding with this driver. Isn’t that cute?!?! After the parade, we usually head to Grandma Lois’s and have a little lunch. If Jason is able to make it (he wasn’t this year) we usually end up going down to get milk shakes. It’s a perfect way to top of a wonderful little day, celebrating one of my favorite little towns!
What a wonderful way to share your communities pride in being a farm community. I totally understand growing up in a small town and its a special place only a few get to call home.
Thanks for sharing and I think getting a milkshake at the end of the day makes it super special indeed.
What a wonderful way to promote & enjoy community spirit in a farm town . I enjoyed the pictures of all the different vehicles! Such fun for all!
Yup, Castalia is the best. I’ve called it home all my life :)
Thanks for this post! We used to live in an area outside of St Louis that had Farm Days. There were tractor pulls and lots of other tractor displays. Good memories!
Thanks for sharing Kelli. We have 2 restored Oliver tractors here, but Todd is to busy working to have them in a parade. Several times during the summer we are often able to catch a tractorcade going past our place on the hi way, it is awesome!
Looks like the little dog is riding in air-conditioned comfort. Tractors sure have come a long way ! Glad to hear you had a good time – hope Puppycat had a good time too!
I also live on a farm outside of a small town (900 people) and we have a German festival every September and the parade has numerous farm implements (yeah, hubby always has a few there too). Small, rural towns are the best!