Each summer for the past 25 years, farmers and tractor enthusiasts have fired up their best tractor and participated in the two-day Farm Heritage Days in Piney Chapel and reminisced how life used to be in Limestone County.

The annual celebration returns this year at 7 a.m. Friday, Aug. 4 and Saturday, Aug. 5, at 20147 Elkton Road, Athens. The sun up to sun down event will include an antique tractor and car show, flea market, skillet throw, kids’ peddle pull and live music.

Festival-goers can camp, but it must be primitive as there are no electric hookups. Admission is $5 per day, with children 10 and under admitted free.

The event is presented by the nonprofit Piney Chapel Antique Engine & Tractor Association Inc. One of the festival’s organizers, David Hargrove, is especially excited this year because — for the first time — a steam tractor will pull a wheat threshing machine, a method employed by farmers before the combine.

“In the past we’ve never been able to get one here and (this year) we had someone who said he could bring his tractor and machine here,” Hargrove said said. “Hopefully this is something we can push year after year.”

Organizers want to include exhibits showing younger generations how farm equipment worked before technology took over. Modern tools will be included too, however, to demonstrate how farming has evolved over time.

“We’re an agricultural based community,” Hargrove said. “Our population has grown so much in the last 10 years and people who have moved here don’t know as much about farming and agriculture, and we’re trying to bridge that gap.”

Tractor ride

One of the most popular events of the festival is the 20-mile tractor ride. Anyone can participate, whether they have a modern or antique tractor, as long as it maintains 8 miles per hour and meets safety specifications.

There will be a drivers meeting at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 4, and all drivers are required to attend. The ride will begin at 10 a.m at the Piney Chapel showgrounds and then proceed to downtown Elkmont. The Limestone County Cattlemen’s Association will provide lunch at the Elkmont Town Hall, and riders will then proceed along the Richard Martin Trail before returning to the showgrounds. The ride is sponsored by Alabama Farmers Federation to promote farm safety, Hargrove said.

How it started

Hargrove can remember when the event was simply a fundraiser for the local fire department. After seven years, the Piney Chapel Antique Engine & Tractor Association Inc. became a nonprofit organization boasting more than 50 members. Some proceeds made from the festival are donated to various charities and individuals, Hargrove said.

“We don’t have a specific charity we donate to … we just try to put the money back into the community where it’s needed,” he said. “We retain a portion of it to fund future shows but every year we try to set aside a portion of what we bring in and try to put it back into the community.”

In the two-and-a-half decades people have been coming to the festival, Hargrove said he has met travelers from far and wide.

“We’ve had people here from New York, Ohio, Illinois; we’ve had people here from Canada,” he said. “We’ve met some wonderful folks through the years.”

Hargrove is a small-scale farmer now, but he was raised on a farm and loves the atmosphere.

“It’s about people, not just the tractors and equipment,” he said. “It’s about friends and families and the way the communities used to be tight-knit. That’s what we’re trying to bring back.”

For more information, visit Piney Chapel Antique Engine & Tractor Association Inc. on Facebook.