By BOB RIGGS
Indiana Correspondent

LANESVILLE, Ind. — Every fall in southern Indiana, old friends gather, new ones show up, paraders parade, eaters eat and beholder behold, as a section of America remembers the heyday of farming.

That is when the Heritage Ground in Lanesville comes alive for the historic annual Heritage Weekend celebration put on by the townspeople for the last 36 years. Distinctive of the three-day event are the sights and sounds of tractor motors roaring, vintage steam engines and hit-and-miss gasoline engines smoking and plenty of people.

Like every year for more than three decades, there will be music at the gazebo on the grounds. At the food tent and in the hall will be the aroma of pork chops, chicken, fried bratwurst, fish, cornbread and bean soup, barbecue and more to tantalize the sensibilities of attendees. It all comes together the second weekend in September.

This year on the morning of Sept. 9 the 36th celebration will officially open. People from Kentucky, Indiana and states beyond begin pouring in to the site 12 miles northwest of Louisville.

There will be plenty of farm machinery, vintage autos, trucks, farm utensils and even appliances from the 19th century. Featured machinery in 2011 will be Ford tractors, New Holland farm equipment, Fairbanks Morse gas engines and Westinghouse steam engines. There will other makes, too.
Clyde Pitts has been a director of the tractor displays for the past 11 years. According to Pitts, the Heritage committee worked out a 10-year rotation of which machinery to feature.

He said there really are no major Ford tractor collectors in the immediate area; however, a decade ago, there were 40 Ford and Fordson model tractors on hand. (Fordson is the name originally used by the Ford Motor Co. because at the time there was a short-lived tractor manufacturer using the Ford name.)
“The model 8ns, 9ns and 2ns were the most popular Ford tractors in this area,” Pitts added.

In the featured farm equipment category, he said, “We will have a self(-propelled) New Holland baler on display, which is the only one known to exist in the area.”

Also for the public’s enjoyment there will be on-site demonstrations of farm and household chores done by farm people in the past. These include exhibitions of apple butter-making, weaving, basket-making, blacksmithing and broom-, sorghum- and soap-making demonstrations daily. In addition, there will be a fiddle competition, log-sawing, horseshoe throwing and similar contests that were open to those who signed up.

There will be a midway for the children, craft booths for all ages and vendor tables. Parking will be free. No alcoholic beverages are allowed, though. To learn more or download a map, visit www.lanesvilleheritageweekend.org