Tractor parade loops around Whiteside County

MORRISON — A little rain wasn’t going stop Monday’s 15th annual Tractor Drive for Agriculture in the Classroom.

Drivers, bundled up in rain gear, waved to onlookers as more than 50 tractors representing everything from John Deere green to Farmall red left the Whiteside County Fairgrounds shortly after 8 a.m. They stopped in Lyndon for a rest break and then traveled south on Illinois 78, en route to Birkey’s in Prophetstown for lunch.

Tractors from all over the region converged on the Whiteside County fairgrounds for the one-day event in which drivers travel rural backroads and have lunch while supporting agriculture education, according to the Whiteside County Farm Bureau Foundation’s website. The Foundation offers educational opportunities that impact the future of the food and agricultural industry in Whiteside County through programs that provide educational materials, classroom presentations and other resources to educate the community. Its scholarship program allows students to attend the college of their choice as they pursue an agricultural degree.

Many of those same tractors will be on display from Tuesday through Saturday at the Whiteside County Fair in Morrison. They will be featured Friday night in another parade, this one a loop around the fair’s track at 5:30 p.m., just prior to that night’s tractor and truck pull, said Todd Mickley of the Whiteside County Fair Board.