LANESVILLE, Ind. — Darcy Kamer is the FFA advisor at Lanesville Community Schools north of Louisville, in Harrison County, Ind. Kamer, a teacher for seven years, has lived in the local area most of her life, and her FFA chapter usually participates in career development events such as soils evaluation, forestry, dairy foods, and livestock projects.

“The group does community activities, such as, serving a 50-Cent Breakfast during National FFA Week, cleaning up a local highway through a state Adopt-A-Highway Program and volunteering at the Harrison County Fair,” said Kamer.

That is why she is so excited about spotlighting her group’s recent tractor restoration project, which will culminate on the last day of this fall’s 37th annual Lanesville Heritage Weekend Festival. This year, it is Sept. 14-16, at the Heritage Grounds at Lanesville.

Kamer said over a period of three years, students from her FFA chapter and several adult volunteers have been restoring a 1953 Allis-Chalmers CA tractor. The project was helped along by donations from local businesses and organizations. On Sept. 16, ownership of the fully restored tractor will be given to one lucky person with a winning raffle ticket.

Tickets will still be available at the festival. They are $5 each.

The defining theme of this year’s festival is “Thinking of the Past, Looking Toward the Future.” The antique farm machinery on display this year will include Minneapolis-Moline and Avery tractors, Waterloo Boy gasoline engines and Case model steam engines.

The three-day celebration actually begins early, on Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m., with an antique tractor pull competition that should put to the test some of the restored tractors.

Other demonstrations will include a parade down the center of Main Street that Saturday, steam engine and tractor powered sawmill demonstrations, blacksmithing, apple butter-making, broom-making, chair weaving, quilt-making and many other old-time farm life demonstrations using old equipment.

For those seeking more modern events there will be 8K races, a hot-air balloon glow on Friday night and a hot-air balloon event on Saturday evening. For the young at heart there will be a midway with fun rides.

There are some contests that were open to members of the public who signed up early. First mention goes to an amateur fiddlers’ contest to be held Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. in the Heritage Community Center. The man-powered log-sawing contest will be Sunday at 1 p.m. Finally, there will be a child’s pedal-tractor pull at 2 p.m. that Sunday.

A chicken dinner is planned in the community building, and there will be plenty of other goodies on sale at the food tent throughout the festivities.

The Lanesville Heritage Weekend was first celebrated in 1976 as a commemoration of America’s Bicentennial. To learn more, visit www.lanesvilleheritageweek end.org or call 812-952-2027.