Friday was great as the exhibitors checked in at a steady but orderly pace. By Friday evening when we closed the gate, we wondered if this would be the first year we would reach capacity and run out of room. Saturday dawned sunny and clear and the trucks were lined up to the road when we opened the gates for check-in at 8 o’clock. When the gates opened to the public at 10:00, we had 215 come through in 45 minutes which was a record.

By noon we were nearing capacity on the show grounds for the first time ever, and exhibitors were asked to move all trucks and trailers off the grounds. The editor of our local paper said our parking lot was almost filled to capacity as well. People had begun to park at our neighbors. We have 15 acres here and because garden tractors are so small, I didn’t think we would ever run out of room. Many members were asking what we would do in 2 years when we have our 15^th Anniversary Expo. I said we would have to get through next year’s expo first, but that I found it encouraging that they were planning that far ahead!

A fun side-note on Saturday: Eric and Kellie Block, of Oxford, Iowa were celebrating their 30^th wedding anniversary that week and decided to celebrate it at the Expo. Their children showed up with two large sheet cakes and they invited the whole club to celebrate with them. We had the cake in the Museum, and many stopped by to enjoy it. Kellie is such a good sport that they even celebrated their 25^th wedding anniversary - on the actual DAY of the anniversary- at our show. That is real dedication and Eric is lucky to have her!

Sunday was a different story. It rained in the early hours of the morning and it was still drizzling when the show opened at 9. Some exhibitors feared it would storm and packed up, but most braved the rain and waited it out. People came anyway and although we weren’t charging, some paid anyway and others came back up to pay when the rain quit. Most of those coming through had umbrellas or rain gear, and said they didn’t mind at all. Rick said his Grandpa always said, "Rain before seven, quit before eleven," and it DID. Many who had packed up, got their tractors out again and joined in the games.

We had exhibitors from 16 states: Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. We always check the door prize tickets to see who came without exhibiting and were pleased to see people who had come from Colorado, Florida, and New York as well as many from the states listed above.

As usual, John Deere was very well represented at Expo 2010, but I couldn’t believe how many new brands and models of garden tractors were there as well. One would think after 13 years of doing this, most of the odd brands would have been discovered already, but apparently there are still more waiting to be found.

The "modified" craze continues and I am always amazed by the new creations people bring each year. The complicated ideas and superb craftsmanship continue to raise the bar, but each year, exhibitors continue to meet and exceed it.

This year some of those modifieds were exhibited by Dick Allendorf, of Darlington, Wisconsin, David Ehle, of Oregon, Wisconsin, and Dale Daigger, of Browntown, Wisconsin. Perhaps the most photographed modified unit was the pink " Jane Deer" exhibited by Dick and Carol Morrow, of East Moline, Illinois. They also had a great sign displayed with it that explained everything.

The parades, as always, were a crowd favorite, but this year, there were also lots of poker runs. The poker runs tend to bring out a different group of participants, and I t was nice to see so many new faces out driving their tractors. The pulling always draws a crowd, but this year many of the vendors said they were so busy selling, they didn’t get time to get away and try pulling. The rain made the plowing easier and many enjoyed trying their hand at that too.

Vendors and shoppers alike said they were happy with the sales this year. One lucky buyer happened to stop by the display of one lucky vendor and both ended up very happy. The buyer saw the beautifully restored yellow patio 140 and set of restored Brinly attachments and asked about the prices. He ended up leaving with what most of us would call an "instant collection" when he bought ALL of it and left for home. ( I hope his wife was happy when he got there. I would have been!)

Thanks to the donations of Pat Wessels at Learning Curve Brands for the Ertl toys, Dave Bell at SpecCast, and Pat and Patsy Osterhaus for the custom Expo toys, we were able to raise more money through the Silent Auction to continue work on the Museum. They and others also donated some very nice door prize items. Many donated items fo r the lunch stand, and most importantly, their TIME! As the show gets bigger, it takes a bigger crew, and this club is very generous with their time. More people volunteer every year, and we are very thankful for their help.

Thanks to Roger Lundeen, of WLSR, the Laser, in Galesburg, Illinois for letting Brian bring the radio equipment and thanks to son-in-law Brian Prescott for announcing the entire show. We get lots of compliments on the great music.

It was nice to meet so many of you who read my Green Magazine columns. Thanks for all the compliments and story ideas.