Veteran auctioneers Stuart James and Carsen Hill looked after the Pedigreed Seed Auction at this years 2023 Ottawa Valley Farm Show. Morin Photo
The 2023 Ottawa Valley Farm Show came back from Covid with a blast.
The popular Farm Show held at the Centre EY Centre on March 14-16 brought together all the different agricultural sectors in the area including more than 360 exhibitors.
There are traditions connected to the annual farm show and one of them is the work done by the Vintage Iron and Traditions of Eastern Ontario, (VITEO).
The group held its traditional toy auction during the farm show as well as donating a first edition collectable tractor to the Pedigreed Seed Auction held at the show’s court of honour. The results of the auction all go to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, (CHEO). For this show, Carsen Hill the current president of VITEO, and Stuart James both long-time auctioneers in Eastern Ontario performed the auctioneering duties.
The second item up for auction \ was a collectable tractor which was a replica of the tractor sold during the VITEO’s toy auction. The life size tractor, a Case Model D 1952 tractor was taken by Gib Patterson.
“We have the actual model of that tractor sitting in the foyer,” said Hill.
The toy auction is a partnership with the Farmers Feed Families program.
Hill said, “The proceeds, funds from the toy auction, help with Easter baskets for people going through some difficult times.”
As is the tradition of VITEO, around 75 collectable tractors are manufactured each year, each time of a different model tractor. The group holds back the very first edition of this year’s tractor to be auctioned off at the seed auction for CHEO.
The rest of the tractors can be purchased for $125.
“We sold all 74 of this year’s tractor collection on the first day of the Farm Show,” said Hill.
VITEO has been doing this at the Farm Show for the past eight years.
There are many collectors out there who would like to get their hands on the very first tractor and know they are helping out CHEO at the same time.
One such person is George Tackaberry from Athens. He has managed to outbid everyone for the first number in each year’s collection with the exception of the second year of the event. That winner was George Nesbitt of Renfrew, another avid collector. The tractor was an Allis Chalmers D14.
In an act of kindness and good-natured rivalry, Nesbitt this year donated his number one collectable tractor to Tackaberry so that he would have the opportunity to own all the eight tractors VITEO has made so far. This year’s tractor was the second item Hill and James presented to their audience at the farm show auction, and by the time the last bid was in, George Tackaberry owned the eighth tractor in the collection for $7,000.
The event was a win win for everyone concerned especially CHEO.
“He has hundreds of toy tractors, and he bought the very first one,” said Hill.
The total raised at the auction for CHEO was $26,235.
