BY JANE BLOODWORTH ROWE
CREEDS— Farmers and collectors from Hampton Roads, northeastern North Carolina and other areas will converge in Virginia Beach for the third annual Plow Day, today at Bonney Bright’s Farm on Buzzard Neck Road.
Bright, who is organizing the event, said that he expects about 400 to 500 people. While most will be from parts nearby, some are expected from central Virginia, Maryland or possibly even the Midwest. Bright said that he’d had one call from a tractor enthusiast in Kansas who was hoping to travel east for the event.
Bright will display his own collection of John Deere farm equipment, including a tractor that dates to 1945. North Carolina resident Bill Jennings, who has become a familiar site in his red bib overalls, is expected to attend this year’s event again.
A tractor must be 25 years old to be considered an antique, said Jim Hornbrook, founder of the Albemarle Antique Power Association, a nonprofit located in Currituck County, N.C. The old farm equipment evokes nostalgia in farmers who used it, but it also fascinates some young people as well.
“Most of our members have an agricultural background, Hornbrook said. “Either they farmed, or their fathers or grandfathers did. And it’s like everything else, it’s the old people who hold it together. But we also have a lot of young people who are interested, and they’re learning from us old folks.”
Hornbrook and other club members attend fairs and festivals throughout eastern North Carolina, where they demonstrate their equipment and attempt to educate the public about the old farm equipment.
“We do demonstrations and educational events, and we identify, restore, and demonstrate antique farm equipment.”
Many of the older tractors come from the era of deep tilling, and the powerful machines were designed to dig deeply into the soil, turning the earth efficiently and quickly. Most farmers now practice vertical tilling, which creates less land disturbance, but the older equipment still fascinates Hornbrook, Bright and others.
“It’s just fun,” Hornbrook said. “It brings back a lot of memories from our youth.”
These events have been very popular in the Mid-West, but they are still a little new on the Virginia-North Carolina coast, and the first Plow Day was held in Virginia Beach in 2019.
It is non-competitive and open to any antique tractor owner who wants to participate, and Bright expects that about 100 acres will be plowed.
Plow Day, which is free to attend, begins at 8:30 a.m. at the farm, 5513 Buzzard Neck Road, and extends to the afternoon.
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