FULTON COUNTY, Ill. — For some central Illinois farmers, the crop came in, and it was time to take a break and get away. Even for farmers who were not done, some took a morning or afternoon to idle their combines and check out the wonders of the Spoon River Drive.

This annual event spanned two weekends – Oct. 6-7 and Oct. 13-14 – and offered those seeking bargains and festivals a chance to hit the road and see a bit of fall beauty.

This year was the 40th annual drive, sponsored by the Spoon River Valley Scenic Drive Assoc. The drive basically follows the Spoon River, which enters Fulton County at London Mills and flows south and east past the towns of Ellisville, Bernadotte and Duncan Mills. The Spoon River empties into the Illinois River in the southeastern tip of the county.

Vendors lined the roads and small communities offered everything from apple cider to vibrating pillows. Those looking for fall decorations, Christmas presents or maybe even an album from 1975 had a decent chance of locating their unique item. It was all about the food, the fun and, most of all, the people along the way. Along the drive was Bob Kessler of Indian Hills Farm, Inc. He is a truck driver who added picking up, dropping off and buying and selling to his business. Located outside of Lewiston, Ill., Kessler’s business has expanded into antique equipment.

“I drive a truck cross-country. I started out picking up tractors for myself and others as a hobby, and it grew into a little more,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe the people that call me to haul tractors now, and I’ve just been doing it for a little more than a year. “I even help people find stuff.”

Outside of his and his wife’s, Betty’s, home, a variety of tractors were lined up. “Everything is for sale,” he added.

One rare tractor was what he described as a John Deere Y. He explained this tractor was built between a wagon plant and a junkyard and only 24 were made. All of the tractors “were supposed to be destroyed.”

As to how he got into this business, Kessler said, “I’ve always liked tractors. I didn’t have the money to deal with them until I quit farming. I bought a few tractors, like the International Harvester (IH) 1206 and some M’s and a Minneapolis-Moline I had when I was a kid.”

He had planned to keep these tractors, but “people priced them, so I sold them.” He has held onto a 1967 IH 1206, which he said has 2,300 actual hours on it.

While much of the drive is farmland, local communities have their own rich heritage highlighted during the festival.

In Smithfield, visitors had the chance to visit famous painter and sculptor Harold Kee Welch’s studio, which is open during the festival.

The studio building began as a bank. The tour guide said the bank had been robbed and the robbers blew out the back end of the building, so the owners moved the bank and the office became the telephone building prior to becoming a studio for Welch.

The Canton Daily Register also shared information about the artwork on display: Also, the restored Harold Kee Welch Art Studio has works of oils, chalks, watercolors, and clay sculptures of Welch and Edgar Lee Masters by the late Harold Kee Welch, who did many large murals in banks and post offices throughout the Midwest. Welch, a native of Smithfield, designed the red oval logo for Spoon River Valley Scenic Drive in 1968.

In London Mills, the Ross Hotel was open on both weekends. It was built in 1884 by Jack Armstrong, famous for wrestling with Abraham Lincoln. After the hotel was sold to Slack Ross in 1904, it later became residence for the London Mills postmistress Lulu Ross. It was purchased by the London Mills Community Assoc. in 1972. The association restored it, and now it offers a wonderful view of a hotel in the late 1800s.

For information about next year’s drive, visit www.spoonriverdrive.org