Tractor Pull brings audience back in time

The Home of Economy parking lot in Grand Forks was home to the Joe Perkerewicz Memorial Tractor Pull and "Classic Iron" Antique Tractor Show Saturday afternoon.

President of Home of Economy Scott Pearson was glad to help host the annual event, which was put on by the Northern Pullers Association.

Perkerewicz had originally come up with the idea to host a tractor pull at Home of Economy. After he passed away, Pearson came to Perkerewicz's family about the idea to make the annual event into a memorial for Joe.

"Joe (Perkerewicz) was a great guy, a really fine man," said Pearson. "He's the sort of guy you'd want to name a tractor pull after."

Most contestants in the tractor pull were farmers or had once been farmers. All the entry fees contributed to the winners' purse.

Pearson, a former puller himself, said what he loved about tractor pulling was the nostalgia associated with it.

"You have a mechanical link to the past," he said of the antique tractors used in the pull. "It's a tangible link to the way farming was done and the kind of equipment that was used. It's something different from everything else you've ever done."

The pull was one of 13 events organized by the NPA this summer.

1/2: Bruce Voelker of Petersburg, N.D., participates in a tractor pull competition at Home of Economy Saturday afternoon. The competition was preceded by a tractor show earlier that morning. photo by Jenna Watson/Grand Forks Herald

2/2: Elizabeth Olson, 3, watches as locals participate in a tractor pull competition at Home of Economy Saturday afternoon. The competition was preceded by a tractor show earlier that morning. photo by Jenna Watson/Grand Forks Herald