The number of riders and tractors at Saturday's 22nd Annual River Hills Antique Tractor Club Adventure Ride was a little lower than usual, but event planner Dennis Lappe said most of the absent participants let him know ahead of time why they would not be taking part.
“We started out with 91, and then four of them had funerals and what have you,” he said. “We knew they weren't coming, and then there were approximately five or six that didn't show, so we ended up with about 82.”
Lappe explained that the River Hills Antique Tractor Club Adventure Ride was born when three members visited Iowa in 2002 to observe and learn about tractor rides being held there.
“In 2003, we had our first one at Fruitland Auction Barn, and we had 60-some tractors out of that deal,” he said. “Later on, we decided to start from the [St. Mary’s] Seminary grounds one year, and then we’d go back down to the East Perry Fair Grounds at Altenburg — just flip-flop back and forth.
“Then, in 2022, we voted to go back and have our 20th year [ride] where we started the first one. So, in ’22, we went to the auction barn again and started down there, and then last year, we went back to Perryville. This year we went to the East Perry [Fair Grounds] in Altenburg. Next year, we’ll go back to Perryville.”
Lappe admitted he was surprised that the adventure ride had lasted so many years.
“Me and a couple of other guys from the club talked about this after about eight or 10 years,” he said. “We said, ‘You know, this is probably all going to fizzle out,’ but it hasn’t. Last year, we started with 96 [tractors] and ended up with 90. I think the most we’ve ever had was like 140.
You know, things come up after people register. We have a deadline for them to register so we can get them in groups. This is not just a show-up deal. You have to be preregistered because you can’t come on the day of [the ride]. We won’t have anything ready for you.”
According to Lappe, one of the major draws for the ride is that it provides an opportunity for old friends to spend time together.
“It just turns out to be kind of a reunion because I'd say 80-90 percent of them that's still going have gone on almost all of them,” he said. “This year, we picked up a few new ones. Some of the older ones we've lost over the past year. Others can't go no more, or something will come up.
“They’ll say, ‘Well, I can't go this year, but don't forget me for next year. So, then we’ll mail them an application for next year — whenever the time comes. We usually mail them out. We hand some of them out — the first ones at Old Timers Day at the end of May. Some are not there, so the next week we start mailing them out.”
Prior to the start of the ride, members of the American Legion Color Guard presented colors, after which layperson Charlie Mangels gave a brief devotional and led in prayer.
The 32-mile ride left the fairgrounds in Altenburg at 8:30 a.m., making two stops — Randy Statler’s shed and the Heartland Social Club — and arriving back at the fairgrounds around 2 p.m., at which time a meal was served.
“Getting these routes together is not an easy job,” Lappe said. “You don’t want 40 miles, and you don’t want 20. These people that come from Oklahoma, Arkansas, and around — they come to ride. They don’t want to ride 20 miles. Our deal is also all paved roads. We don’t go on gravel.
“Getting these country roads that have been paved and coming up with ‘x’ number of miles and finding places to stop at, say, 12 or 15 miles. ‘Where can we do this?’ ‘Well, let’s go this way. We’ll turn in here and go down. ‘That ain’t gonna work. We’re running into gravel.’ ‘Well, let’s go back to somewhere else.’ It’s not as easy as you think it is.”
And how about that meal served when they returned to the fairgrounds?
“Oh my, we had a wonderful meal!” Lappe said. “We had fried chicken and fried fish, baked beans, potato salad, slaw and all kinds of desserts. It was excellent! There’s a lot of these older guys that don’t get to eat like that. One of the guys who has been coming for several years is from Essex, Missouri, down in the Bootheel.
“He got there at 6:30 Saturday morning, so he must have left fairly early at home. When it come time to start handing out packets, he asked what we were going to have to eat. I said, “We’re going to have fish and chicken.’ He said, ‘I had fish here once before, and it was the best fish I ever had.’ I said, ‘Well, you’re going to get some more.”
Lappe offered his thanks, on behalf of the River Hills Antique Tractor Club, to the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department, North Cape Girardeau County Fire Department, the Perry County Sheriff’s Department and the Perryville Fire Department.
“We also had several helpers in the club who helped get things together,” Lappe added. “It takes a lot of work, and if we don’t work together, we just can’t do it.”
