Having not understood the kind of weather Portland, IN had received over the last week, I got up this morning and got on the road at 5 am for my 4 hour drive to the swap meet. As I was coming into town, I knew something was wrong; I was meeting a steady line of vendors pulling out. It wasn"t until I got to the show grounds did I understand why. The place was a mud hole. I overheard one gentleman say it started raining on Sunday evening and rained everyday and quit Friday night.While I was at the show today (Sat), I estimated about 40-50% of the vendors understandably were either already gone or in the process of packing up. I must admit I was really surprised when I only saw 3 Moline tractors and just ZA parts on one gentleman"s trailer. I had never been to this swap meet before so I honestly can"t say I knew what to expect. With that being said, I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the lack of tractors there, as it seemed to me to be more of a gas engine and lawn and garden swap meet. Please do not think I am docking it, because I am not; but it just wasn"t my flavor. I always enjoyed going to Waukee when I went, although haven"t been since 2000 nor have I ever been to LeSeur. I have been told I need to go north out of IL and get into Minnesota if I want to see a real swap meet, but of course that is one person"s opinion. My question is this: Where is all the prairie gold at/going? Are we as collectors losing the battle to keep Moline alive? I don"t know the answer as I am just posing the question, so please forgive me and thank you for not condemning me. I realize I am only 30 yrs old, but I have noticed I see less and less of it at shows. Thank you all for your time and consideration and feel free to holler back at me.
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