Adeline man donates sale proceeds from restored antique tractor back to Forreston FFA

HAZELHURST — There was one very special sale Saturday at the Hazelhurst Spring Consignment Auction, all thanks to the generosity of a local farmer.

Sitting amid hundreds of other pieces of farm machinery of various makes, models and specialties was a bright red antique tractor, a 1949 Case VAC to be specific, that was restored by Forreston FFA members last year and raffled as a fundraiser for the program.

Dave Myers, of Leaf River Farms in Adeline, was the lucky winner last fall and decided to put the tractor on the auction block at the spring sale with all proceeds donated back to the Forreston FFA.

Auctioneer Lenny Bryson of Polo capped off the deal when he announced the tractor would be sold free of the typical commission charged by the auction house.

Myers knew the VA series – the first Case row-crop tractor to use the Eagle Hitch – pretty well because his son Justin, a senior at Forreston High School, was one of the FFA kids who worked on the restoration.

“I was always joking with him that if I won it I was going to sell it here [Hazelhurst] and donate it all back to the FFA,” Myers said. “And then I won it.”

Justin, a John Deere aficionado, didn’t mind the tractor going to a new owner.

“Nah, it was the wrong color,” he said smiling.

Bryson started the bidding at $1,000 and the tractor sold for $2,000 to an online bidder.

The spring consignment sale has taken place on 30 acres between Polo and Milledgeville – near the tiny hamlet of Hazelhurst – since the 1940s.

Sheryl Hopkins, of Public Auction Service, Polo, oversees the clerking, along with her husband, Lyle, and with help from other family members.

Sheryl’s mother and father, Ruth and Ellery Shank, hosted the first sale on their farm in the 1940s. It started as a venue for local farmers to buy and sell farm machinery. Now it’s held twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall.

The event has become a generational “must do” for some area farmers, allowing them to talk shop, maybe complain about the weather or catch up with old friends as they stroll by the rows of farm machinery, vehicles and miscellaneous items.

The Polo Lions Club operated the main food booth in the center of the sale site. The covered building was a popular place for visitors to grab a hot dog, cheeseburger or pork chop sandwich and chat with friends and neighbors.

At the west side of the auction, the Ogle County Beef Producers sold their ever-popular rib-eye steak sandwiches and burgers – freshly grilled on-site.

The fall sale will be Saturday, Sept. 6. For information, email slpaspolo@gmail.com, or visit Lenny Bryson Auctioneer at lennybrysonauctioneer.com.

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Cayson Wolf, 7, of Dixon, climbs on a round bale hauler on Saturday, April 5, 2025 at the Hazelhurst Spring Consignment Auction. Cayson was at the sale with his dad. (Earleen Hinton)