The sixth annual Antique Tractor & Power Show in Boaz offers Sand Mountain residents a peek into the agricultural past of the region.

“Nostalgia,” Boaz Mayor Tim Walker explained. “Just a feeling of seeing what made this country develop like it did.”

The show is a family event, featuring a parade of tractors, prizes, food vendors selling breakfast and lunch, and fun games for children and adults.

The show is scheduled Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Boaz Farmers Market, on the corner of Alabama 205 and Line Avenue. Registration for awards competitions starts at 7 a.m. Admission and registration are free.

“It’s getting bigger every year,” said Luvern Adams, who helped start the event in 2005. “We had 99 tractors last year.”

Adams also makes the unique award trophies by hand.

“This year’s trophy is a horseshoe with a plow mounted on it,” he said.

The show attracts people from all walks of life throughout the region.

“My wife has no interest in tractors whatsoever, but she enjoys the tractor show,” the mayor said. “It’s a neat thing to see some of the things restored. You see how our grandparents to our great-grandparents began their farming venture.

“Plus there are a lot of neat little things like the skillet-tossing contest and a slow tractor race. The kids love it.”

Sheila Sanders, the mayor’s executive secretary, estimated 600 people attended the 2009 show.

“Last year, we had 101 entries, and 12 awards for tractors, engines and power tools,” she said. “The Farmers Market will be open, and everyone can buy their vegetables and produce.”

http://www.sandmountainreporter.com/story.lasso?ewcd=b0e17d27b8edd05d