SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois State Fair was to open Aug. 7 with the kickoff Twilight Parade. The rain made for a soppy tractor unloading, but tractors still arrived in place for visitors to admire and recall the bygone days of farming with two-cylinders and old iron.

While the tractors found places under the pavilion during the day, they didn’t get to wow a crowd because the parade was canceled for wet conditions. Jeff Squibb of the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) stated, "The weather forecast is calling for a heavy storm cell that potentially could cause flash flooding to pass through Springfield during the time of the parade."

Gov. Pat Quinn had selected Kevin McKee, a member of the U.S. gold medal-winning Paralympics sled hockey team, as the 2014 Grand Marshal. McKee, a longtime member of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago hockey team – the RIC Blackhawks – has skated on Team USA’s international squad since 2010 and was selected last March to compete in the 2014 Paralympics Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

"It is an honor to have been asked to be the grand marshal of this parade," McKee said. "I feel blessed to be able to share this day with so many other very talented people."

On Thursday patrons could visit the fair for free, but some vendors and enthusiasts such as the antique tractor collectors were still arriving at the show throughout the day. The antique Agricultural Exposition was sponsored by the Illinois State Fair Museum and Jessie White, Illinois secretary of state, Prairieland Heritage Museum and Vintage Ag Assoc.

While the tractors were making their way to the pavilion, sculptor Shannon BuMann of Central Square, N.Y., unveiled the fair’s iconic butter cow in the Dairy Building on the state fairgrounds. This year’s sculpture is made of 850 pounds of unsalted butter and was inspired by the fair’s 2014 theme of "Making Memories."

It depicts a doting mother taking a photo of her young son, who is milking a cow at the state fair for the first time. The butter cow exhibit is a project of the Midwest Dairy Assoc. and was paid for by its local farmer-members.

While the parade didn’t take place, the next day the fair was back to business. Cloudy conditions prevailed most of the weekend. For more information on the fair, which runs through Sunday, log on to www.agr.state.il.us/isf