Hundreds of local residents and out of town visitors attended the annual Paris Super Pull and Historical Expo at the Paris Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 8, 2024.
The tractor pull is one the Paris Agricultural Society’s three main events throughout the year and the expo has been running since 1971.
This year, around 50 contestants participated in one or more of the 16-plus classes throughout the six-hour event including:
· Super Stock 4×4
· Super Mod 4×4
· Hot Stock 4×4
· Nostalgic 2WD
· 8000 Lb Pro Farm Tractors
· 10,500 Lb Pro Farm Tractors
· 11,000Lb Pro Farm Tractors
· 12,000 Lb Super Sport Tractors
· 12,500 Lb Super Sport Tractors
· Single Engine Mods
· Hot N Heavy Diesel
· 3.0 Pro Street Diesel
· 3.6 Pro Mod Diesel
· Super Mod 2WD
· Open Street Diesel and,
· Open Street Semi
Sydney Adams, who sits on the Paris Agricultural Society Board of Directors and Chairs the Admissions Committee, said that attendees were in for a night of fun.
“With six hours of pulls to run, we have a whole slew of things going on here like lawn games, food trucks, a beer garden and a display of historical tractors. Of course, there’s plenty of pulls going on in a bunch of different classes and weights as well,” she said. “The pit will also be open before and after the show and the drivers will be around their vehicles so that people can go visit them, talk, take pictures and kind of get up close and personal with the drivers. That part of the event is always a particularly exciting moment for the kiddos because if they have a favourite then they go back into the pit and kind of see how things work so it’s a lot of fun for everyone.”
Throughout the evening, the large crowd of people cheered and clapped for their favourite vehicles and drivers as they tried to pull the bright orange Class 8 Weight Transfer Sled (known as the “Humiliator”) the farthest. Attendees were especially loud when the various tractors or trucks produced black smoke or the front end of the vehicle lifted in the air.
Adams noted that the event draws in such a large and excited crowd year after year for several reasons, the novelty of it all being one of them.
“It’s kind of a cultural thing, right? For the people who grew up in or around agriculture, a lot of them do it because their families have been doing it for years; Their dad or their grandpa did it in the past and so they’ve grown up with it and now it’s their turn to get involved in the competition,” she said. “For a lot of other people who aren’t so immersed in that world, it’s a bit of a novelty because it’s an exciting and unique sort of activity to get out and see. It’s not something that happens very often and for kids, it’s just super fun because honestly, who doesn’t love a really loud tractor and all that power? It’s a win-win for everybody.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
