Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408270027
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By PETER S. WILLIS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: EGGLESTON LENGTH: Medium
They remember Capt. William Eggleston, the Revolutionary War officer who founded their town. And they remember all of the people who, by helping others, made their town what it is.
That tradition continues Saturday with the ninth annual Fun Day and Antique Tractor Pull. The event is sponsored by the Eggleston Volunteer Fire Department as its annual fund-raiser.
Along with the tractor pull, local gospel, country and bluegrass bands will provide music throughout the day. A flea market and crafts fair will also be part of the event.
But Fun Day is about more than raising money, said Donald Wimmer, Fun Day chairman and volunteer firefighter.
Eggleston Volunteer Fire Chief Jimmy Mustard described the day as ``a community gathering, a reunion-like event where people can come back and see old classmates and old friends. That's what has made our Fun Day what it is.''
Previous Fun Days enabled the Fire Department to replace outdated equipment, Wimmer said. Expected proceeds from this year's event will allow the department to expand its meeting room and install a bathroom and kitchen facilities.
Volunteers donate time, money and home-cooked meals for the event.
``Without all the volunteers throughout the community, there's no way we could put this on,'' Wimmer said.
The antique tractor pull, featuring tractors from 1954 and earlier, will be held on the front lawn of the SAMAX sewing factory, the former site of the Eggleston High School. Mustard expects about 100 tractors to roll down Virginia 730 to Eggleston, just off of U.S. 460 in Giles County. Tractors will be divided by weight into seven divisions.
Volunteers from the Southwest Virginia Antique Club of Roanoke and the New River Valley Antique Tractor Club will officiate, weighing the tractors for the various classes, handling the registrations and awarding the trophies.
Previous tractor pulls have attracted competitors from across Southwest Virginia.
Meals will be available throughout the day at the Masonic Lodge adjacent to the event field. The menu items are all donations and it will be a ``potluck'' affair, Mustard said.
Funtime Inc. of Martinsville will provide a "Moonwalk" tent and a games wagon for children. Members of the Volunteer Fire Department will provide a dunking booth and other activities.
Atkin's Equipment, Looney's Farm Equipment, Dr. James Cully of Giles Surgical Clinic, Giles Auto Parts and Castle Rock Insurance are among the many businesses sponsoring the event.
Things start rolling at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Tractors weigh in at 10 a.m. and the tractor pull begins at 11 a.m.
by CNB