Franklin, IL always has a big celebration for the 4th of July. The village square becomes full of festival activity typical of a small town set for fun. Crafts, games, fair type food, and live music attract the crowd.
The annual event is also known for serving “burgoo”. For those unaware burgoo is a stew, cooked in a large cast iron kettle, that must date back to the pioneer days. I personally never knew much about this interesting cuisine until I moved to central IL. Burgoo is a story in itself.
I became actively involved in Franklin’s celebration during the 2015 parade. Since then, I’ve traveled the parade route on / in a antique vehicle. Generally I’m on a tractor, but last year I drove Big Red. A hot loud old truck isnt a great choice, but a lady friend I was seeing at the time wanted to be in the parade. I should have spent more time teaching her how to operate a tractor.
Jim Edwards holds his annual open house on the 4th. Obviously the tractor people congregate there and spend a relaxing day looking at his extensive collection. I discovered how much work the family goes through for the yearly event. It takes the whole family and anyone willing to lend a hand to prepare.
The open house has grown tremendously since my friendship with the family began. Jim’s dyno gets extensive use demonstrating PTO horse power measurements. He set up a braker fan a few years ago to show how belt pullies worked.
The neighbors generally bring tractors to contribute to the open house show line, which gives a larger viewing. We did “tractor” games one year just to be more playful. Generally it’s a pleasant excuse to eat, talk and have fellowship with friends of common interest.
This year was a change up though. Doug and Josh Adkins put together a tractor pull. This wasn’t new to the Franklin celebration, but no one had worked at hosting a pull for quite a few years. The rebirth had a few hick ups and the managers handled the issues splendidly.
Mother Nature made it difficult to build a track for pulling. Considering that, the problem was handled very well. The pullers made do with what they had and there was a decent showing.
There was a great local turnout this year. Josh & Doug had a great amount of help to put on the show. The Franklin celebration only gets bigger and better as time goes forward.
Not all the photography work was my own. I want to thank those that contributed art work. Unfortunately I’m not sure who all the photographers were.
