Proudly parading their tractors for visitors to check out were these participants in the Broad River Antique Power Association's 8th Annual Plow Day and Tractor Show. (Ledger photo / TIM GULLA) Paul Patterson couldn’t even guess how many hours he had put into restoring his 1954 John Deere tractor.

“It’s unlimited,” he said with a laugh.

But the fruits of his labor were easy to see. His tractor had a gleaming coat of green paint and looked as if it had just come out of the factory, not bad for a farm implement nearly 60 years old.

His brother’s tractor, a 1948 Allis-Chalmers, was no less pristine.

Paul and Ed Patterson were far from alone in their attention to detail, though. Lined up in neat rows all around them were dozens of tractors and farm tools that have been lovingly restored and preserved for future generations.

And while attendance figures were still being sorted out as of Saturday afternoon, hundreds if not thousands of people shared the same passion at the Broad River Antique Power Association’s 8th Annual Plow Day and Tractor Show. The annual event was held this year on a gently sloping farm off Green Acres Road in the Macedonia community owned by Paul Patterson. It’s expected that the location will become a permanent site for the event going forward.

By most accounts from Broad River Antique Power Association members, this year’s event was undoubtedly the biggest yet.

For some the fascination could be found in the preservation of antiques no less important or intriguing than classic automobiles.

And for some the event serves as a walk through history.

“For people who were raised on a farm, it’s in their blood,” offered Ed Patterson.

The tools used to cultivate the ground, whether they came in the form of beasts of burden or diesel-fueled tractors, were just as important to a farmer as sunshine and rain in many respects.

“My daddy farmed with a mule before he got a tractor,” Ed Patterson said. “When that mule died, he cried like it was a member of the family.”

Some of the tractors and farm implements brought out Saturday were close to 100 years old. Many of the restored pieces were nothing more than rusted hulks with seized-up motors before the restorers set to work breathing new life into them.