MONCKS CORNER, S.C. - Antique tractor and engine exhibits, tractor- and lawn-mower-pulling competitions, a farm-tools and equipment auction, an encampment of Civil War re-enactors and a variety of arts and crafts specialists will be featured the Berkeley County Museum's sixth annual Antique Tractor & Engine Show at Old Santee Canal Park in Moncks Corner on Sept. 8-9.

Visitors to the museum's annual fund-raising event will get a glimpse of and opportunity to examine up-close some of the tractors, tools and farm machinery that were important to the agricultural past of Berkeley County and the South Carolina Lowcountry.

"It's all about the agrarian roots of the culture and history of Berkeley County and this area," said Al Belk, president of Berkeley Classic Tractor & Engine Club and chairman of the planning committee for the museum's two-day exposition of vintage agricultural technology. "These tractors, hit-and-miss engines and other related farm equipment reflect the big s.jpg of progress made over the past century beyond mules and plows, horse-drawn wagons and the crops grown and harvested mainly by the sweat of their brow by farmers and their families.

"With the advent of first the steam powered engines and subsequently gasoline, kerosene and diesel-fueled engines, the era of powered tractors and machinery made agriculture a bigger, better and more booming business."

The Berkeley Museum's Antique Tractor & Engine Show began in 2002 as an event to raise the awareness and understanding of the importance of agriculture and evolution of agricultural technology over the past century.

Show participants include five antique tractor organizations: Berkeley Classic Antique Tractor & Engine Club, Lowcountry Tractor and Engine Association of Charleston, Swamp Fox Antique Tractor and Engine Club of Marion, Sunny Plain Antique Power Association of St. Matthews and Waccamaw Tractor & Engine Club of Conway. Additional exhibits from throughout the Palmetto State will also be involved.

One of the features of the 2007 show will be the tractor-pulling competition, utilizing the new 350-by-50-foot track.

"The new track facilitates an expansion in participation by tractor pullers," Belk said. "With total-track lighting, a grandstand and sound system, it is the premier pulling track in South Carolina."

This year's show will also feature an expanded Saturday morning auction of tractors and farm equipment, beginning at 9 a.m., as well as a display of John Deere toy tractors and collectibles.

On the art and crafts side, specialists in the areas of blacksmithing, basket weaving, chair caning, furniture making and a grist mill operation will be featured in the Crafts of the Lowcountry exhibit at the Berkeley Museum.

Funds from the event support the Berkeley County Museum's educational outreach program and the development of new exhibits and displays.

Gates open at 9 a.m. Admission is $5 for adults, with children 10 years of age and under admitted free. For more information, call 843-899-5101.

• Story special to The T&D.

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