John:

I was glad to get your message.  I knew I was kind of sneaking the musuem into my post and did not know how you would take it.  

I don't think any of the Brandt Brothers are going to the summer show, but I think you know how we feel about a musuem, i.e. there has to be a lot more information made availlable before we give any money or much time helping getting it going.  I was talking to Duane Starr a while ago and he seems to think it is a bad idea.  At least that is how I understood what he said.

I know one of the goals of the club is to establish a museum, but as it says in the magazine the club was formed in 1990 by people from Charles City.  I don't know for sure, but I would suppose when they wrote the articles of incorporation they had the Floyd County Musuem in the back of their minds.

The club does need a home, no doubt about it, but not one that costs big dollars to build and maintain.  I'm still a fan of getting with all the clubs that White/AGCO bought out and going together to build a museum that would include Oliver, Cockshutt, Massey Fergurson, Allis Chalmers. etc.  I know it would have a bigger base from which to draw visitors and there would be some interesting comparisons to be made.

If the club won't go for such a concpet then I think we should concentrate on continuing to have some really great shows.

We went on the WHO Radio Tractor Ride a couple of weeks ago.  There were about 500 tractors and I would say there were 40-50 Olivers.  We had 6 of them.  One afternoon it just happened that there were 13 Olivers in a row going down the road.  It was pretty impressive to be going around some of those big curves and look back and see all those Ollies coming around the bend.  I think those are the kinds of things HPOCA has to keep going.

Good luck on getting a grasp on the musuem.  Maybe I can help out some way.  If you think so let me know.

Bill Brandt