Kiddie Tractor Pull: Fun Event Promotes Farm Safety
By Teri Stein
September 25, 2011
535
Summary: The mission of the Tuscarawas County Farm safety organization is to make sure farm safety is something children grow up knowing. The group put safety in the spotlight at the Kiddie Tractor Pull held on Saturday Sept. 24 at the Tuscarawas County Fair.
Photos by Teri Stein
It may look all in fun but the Kiddie Tractor pull put on by the Tuscarawas County Farm Safety group, a chapter of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, is deadly serious.
We promote safety by having pedal tractor pulls, said Darlene Finzer, chairperson of the Tuscarawas County Farm Safety organization. We use safety features on our pedal tractors to get the kids in the habit of seeing and using safety features.
Each pedal tractor has a roll bar and the children have to be buckled in to participate. The use of a seat belt and roll bar are 98 percent effective in a rollover (accident), said Finzer.
The pedal tractors also have No Riders stickers. If there is one seat, there should be only one rider, said Finzer. Fifty percent of the deaths of children on the farm occur because theyre extra riders on tractors. Whether its a farm tractor or a lawn tractor kids shouldnt be extra riders.
The group is also promoting this concept on t-shirts which read Its easier to bury a tradition than a child.
If kids are on a pedal tractor, they shouldnt be on a big tractor because they arent physically or mentally ready to operate a tractor, said Finzer.
One of only about four chapters of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids in the state of Ohio, the Tuscarawas County group is willing to travel to spread their important message. They have done Kiddie Tractor Pulls as far away as West Virginia and traveled to other counties in Ohio to give safety presentations.
The Kiddie Tractor Pull is for children three through ten years of age and is divided into four classes, three and four year olds, five and six year olds, seven and eight year olds, and eight and nine year olds. The weight on the sled is increased accordingly for each of the older classes.
Every participant received a ribbon and the top five winners in each class received toy tractor prizes donated by Shook Auto.
The winners were: Ages three to four, first place, Vivian Amick, 4, of New Philadelphia, 24 feet and 11 inches; second place, Cade Jones, 4, of New Philadelphia, 24 feet and 9 inches; third place, Mason Smith, 4, East Rochester, 23 feet and 7 inches; Joey Henline, 4, of New Philadelphia, 22 feet and 5 inches and a pull off of 20 feet; fifth place, Grady Stein, 3, of New Philadelphia, 22 feet and 5 inches and a pull off of 17 feet and 2 inches.
Ages five to six, first place, Katelyn Foust, 6, of Dover, full pull of 30 feet; second place, Ian Travis, 6, Alexandria, 28 feet and 2 inches; third place, Ashley Zurfley, 6, of Beach City, 28 feet and 1 inch, fourth place; Jackson Reifenschneider, 5, of Strasburg, 26 feet and 11 inches; fifth place, Colton Scott, 6, of Gnadenhutten, 24 feet.
Ages seven to eight, Rance Quillen, 8, of Stone Creek, three full pulls; second place, Tracy Zurfley, 8, of Beach City, two full pulls and pull off of 26 feet and 4 inches; third place, Marisa Supers, 8, of Dennison, two full pulls and pull off of 24 feet and 11 inches; fourth place, Mason Mizer, 8, of Stone Creek, full pull and pull off of 28 feet and 3 inches; fifth place, Luke Parker, 7, of New Philadelphia, 27 feet and 9 inches.
Ages nine to ten, first place, Cedric Rummel, 10, of New Philadelphia, 27 feet and 4 inches; second place, Henry Specht, 9, of New Philadelphia, 23 feet and 4 inches; third place, Kennedy Allen, 10, of New Philadelphia, 23 feet and 3 inches; fourth place, Mason Miller, 10, of Sugarcreek, 23 feet and 1 inch; fifth place, Angeline Garvin, 9, of Strasburg, 23 feet and a pull off of 27 feet and 10 inches.
