Editor’s note: The Farm Progress Show is Aug. 27-29 in Boone, Iowa. Visit FarmProgressShow.com.

Maybe it is fitting that the first Farm Progress Show was held in 1953 on the Earl Bass farm near Armstrong, Ill. That was the year I was born. Little did my parents know that Farm Progress Shows would become an integral part of my life.

Sixty years ago, my father, Robert, went to his first Farm Progress Show, held on Warren North’s farm near Brookston, Ind. Dad wouldn’t take me along, but I still remember the tales he told: cars everywhere, waiting two hours to park, combines and tractors galore.

Three years later, the late Jim Cummings took a wide-eyed freshman FFA member — me — and 50 other kids on a school bus to the 1967 Farm Progress Show at the LeRoy Keesling farm near Chalmers, Ind. We were stuck in line for two hours. Hey, waiting in line was a badge of honor — it made the show sound humongous to your friends.

Fast-forward to 1979 at Crawfordsville, Ind., at the Lincoln Priebe farm. I was there, this time as an FFA advisor, with 50 of my own students, stuck in line on a school bus! Was it worth the wait? The Farm Progress Show is always worth the wait!

Two years later, in 1981, my connection with the Farm Progress Show became professional. I parked cars at the show near Brimfield, Ill., as a field editor for Indiana Prairie Farmer. I would become co-manager of traffic for almost two decades, and then transition to new products coverage for two more decades. Since 1981, I have participated in all but a couple Farm Progress Shows.

Then and now

Here are memories that highlight how the show transformed into the world-class event you enjoy today:

1981, Brimfield, Ill., Tuesday morning. Lightning flashed at 4 a.m. outside a farmhouse in the middle of a 300-acre pumpkin field. Yes, pumpkins, in Illinois. Overbooking left no room at the inn, and I bunked with a farm family.

By 6:30 a.m., I was standing on a road with a flashlight, waving at cars. By 9 a.m., the vice president of Farm Progress was in a Massey Ferguson four-wheel-drive tractor, pulling cars out of the mud. Permanent sites with established parking lots make that much less likely today.

1981, Brimfield, Thursday. The weather cleared and it was a brisk, clear, sunny early fall morning. I was at the edge of a cornfield when a small plane buzzed over, literally feet above my head, and I snapped a picture. A year later, it became my first magazine cover, welcoming people to the 1982 Farm Progress Show near Wolcott, Ind. Farmers flying to the show now land at commercial airfields.

1985, Knightstown, Ind. My co-traffic manager, John Otte, then the Farm Progress economics editor, and I listened as an Indiana state trooper visited with a showgoer in a pickup truck pulled to the side of the traffic lane. In the bed of the truck was a bear — a big, brown, large, very much alive bear.

“Honest, sir, I must get this bear to the chain saw exhibit. He is a dancing bear.”

“A what?” the trooper asked.

“A dancing bear — he normally dances at bars in Indianapolis. Would you like to wrestle with him?”

True story — I could not make that up!

1989, Rochester, Ind. Roaming through the parking lot on a four-wheeler, I spot a large man carrying a box. “Would you like a ride?” I asked.

“That would be great, young man,” he said. As it turns out, it was Dave Garst, owner of Garst Seeds of Coon Rapids, Iowa. Apparently, his secretary forgot to give him an exhibitor’s pass! Parking lots are arranged such that the walk is shorter today for everyone.

1994, Bloomington, Ill., Wednesday. Tuesday was a rainout — which seldom happens now with permanent sites. So, the Wednesday crowd remains one of the largest single-day crowds ever. At 11:30 a.m., my friend and I created emergency parking as the field crew ran off another 30 acres of corn. At 1 p.m., the late Tom Budd, in charge of the show, stood at the entrance, directing traffic to me. “They’re still coming, Tom, they’re still coming!” he said. He was elated. Me, on weary legs, not so much!

2003, Armstrong, Ill., Tuesday. Several editors covering new products, including myself, were gathered inside a trailer next to the Family Living tent, taking a break. The door opened and there was Tom Fouts, aka Captain Stubby, there to perform — except he literally looked like death warmed over. His daughter explained he had been ill. He could barely whisper.

A few minutes later, we heard loud clapping. Then a booming voice echoed loudly. “Hello, Illinois, I am Captain Stubby — let’s share some laughs.”

They did — for 40 minutes. Then the door opened, and there was Stubby, looking like death warmed over — again. What a performer!

2022, Boone, Iowa. People were back! It was the first Farm Progress Show with visitors since 2018, due to COVID-19. I was at the show site in 2020, viewing John Deere’s new X10 combine in action, prepping for the virtual Farm Progress Show. But visitors didn’t see it live until 2022.

Let’s hope for sunny days for combines to work and throngs of people watching this year.