Brian Corley Amanda Nelson, 7, drives a tractor with her grandfather, Don Nelson, during the tractor show Saturday. The event continues today at the Johnson Lane home of Bill and Dorine Ramsden.
By noon Saturday, more than 1,000 people had paid to visit Bill and Dorine Ramsden's back yard.
The Ramsdens are hosting their seventh antique tractor show this weekend at their home off Stephanie Way in Minden. But this year may be the record-breaker, Dorine said.
"It's super good this year," she said, talking about the turnout. "It looks like it's more because we're busier than normal."
Cars lined Heybourne Road and spilled out along Stephanie Way on Saturday near the Ramsdens' property. Volunteers drove tractors with wagons to ferry people between the show and their cars.
By 12:30 p.m., 1,056 $3 tickets had been sold. The money raised helps to fund the show each year.
The sign attached the Ramsden's garage - "John Deere Tractor Parking Only, Violators Will Be Plowed Under" - seemed appropriate as tractor collectors and enthusiasts wandered between rows of restored tractors, browsed craft vendors and examined engine displays.
Joyce Newman, a Washoe Valley resident, sat on top of her 1948 Farmall Cub tractor waiting for the parade to begin. She said her husband's tractor collecting "sort of rubbed off" on her.
"It gets into your blood and just stays there," said Wendell Newman, who helped start the Northern Nevada Antique Power Club, an organization of antique tractor collectors.
"It's just one of those things," he said. "I'm from Iowa originally and we were farming with tractors then. The rest of it is history."
The Newmans brought three tractors to the show and have participated in the Ramsdens' show for six of its seven years.
Carole Campbell of Ukiah, Calif., attends about 20 tractor shows and four parades a year.
"We take them to all the parades and shows and fairs all around the country," she said.
Along with her two tractors Campbell, who is a preschool special education teacher, also brought a hand-operated water pump for children to play with.
Although many people at the show were part of the parade and show, others just wanted to check out the tractors.
"We're just up here because I'm interested in old tractors," said Joe Monscvitz, a Las Vegas resident. Monscvitz and his wife, Clara, drove to Minden specifically for the show.
"I promised her I'd take her to casinos and she said she'd come," he said about his wife.
"He bribed me," she said.
IF YOU GO
What: Antique Tractor Show
When: 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. today
Where: 2838 Heybourne Rd., off Stephanie Lane
Admission: $3
