It is time for Show & Tell with CanadaGirl, a highlight of the blogging week!  Click on the link to visit her blog and participate in the fun!

 I am going to share about THE most redneck, hillbilly thing that I have done in a long time.  On Saturday night I took Harrison and Kennady to the 4H/FFA Fair to see a Combine Demolition Derby.  My homeschooling friend told me about it on Friday night, because her FIL had a combine he was putting in the derby, so she and her family would all be "pit crew"  I didn't need to think twice - I absolutely HAD to see this event!! 

I've got two slide shows (at photobucket)  that I made from my pictures, but can't figure out how to make them work here.  So I will be sharing the individual photos instead.  If I crack the code on getting the slideshow to work, I'll edit and put those up here instead.  Anyway...

The crowd for this event was HUGE, relatively speaking.  The emcee told us that this was the first time a combine demolition derby had been held east of the Mississippi.  Wow.  Ground-breaking!!! LOL  But obviously a LOT of people wanted to see it - the traffic was lined up in all directions from the fairgrounds, and parking was at a premium.  There were long lines to get into the "seating bowl" for the event, and in fact they had to prolong the parade at the beginning to give more time for the people to get through the line and find a seat.  (There were only a few bleachers, so seating was BYOB - bring your own blanket) 

Here are pictures of the parade of combines.  I wish I'd remembered all the years and make/model info about each of the eleven entries, but most of it left my head.

(This "Holstein" combine is the one belonging to my friend's FIL)

I do remember that this one is an Allis-Chalmers Gleaner.  Originally manufactured in a silver color, which is why the owner decorated and named this entry "The Tin Man"  That is "Dorothy" up front. LOL)

This one was called First Responder, in honor of the owner's connection to the fire department.  The emcee made a comment about them taking a "perfectly good John Deere and painting it red"

The entries were divided into three "heats" and then at the end the winner of each heat faced off in the final.  Here's the first heat lined up and ready to go:

And let the demolition begin!

As it got dark, it got harder for me to get good pictures.  After the third heat, there was a ten-minute break for the winners to make repairs before the final.  The small wheels on the combines did not fare so well, and the Army Farmer (who won the third heat) had his welding crew come out and fix him up!

Some final heat action:

And the winner...

The Holstein belonging to Lisa's FIL!! (BTW, pray for Lisa's family - after the big win on Friday, this week has brought some not-so-fun things to their household - just pray for them, the Lord knows the details)

The pictures really don't do the event justice - it was so much fun! 

Now I need to get back to work here - we are headed out on vacation tomorrow morning, the annual Kingdom Bound camping trip!  I'll be home next Friday, and hopefully will have time to put up a Show & Tell about that.