Brown box of treasured iron

We have a special box at our house.

Everything else in my home is neatly organized in plastic containers and precisely labeled, but this one box doesn’t need a label. Zach and I discussed getting a bigger or nicer box, but decided it would take away from the aura of the special box.

It’s well worn, brown, with a hinged top, which is good since it bulging contents won’t quite allow it to close. It’s large, because my husband wears a size 15 shoe.

Most people would expect the contents to be all red, but it’s filled with my husband’s lifelong love of farm equipment and his colored past in the industry.

Little boys who visit know exactly where we keep it and what’s inside.

In a world full of fancy toys, video games and electronic devices there is still something about having control of the miniature version of such powerful machines and farming the carpet of the living room.

Last month we decided it was time to introduce my two-year-old nephew Tyson to the box.

Zach is amazed by the fact that Tyson gets just as much enjoyment out of his old beat up equipment he played with in the 80’s as he does the newest additions to the box. In his mind, the beat up John Deere gator that is missing the whole back end is just as fun to pretend drive as is the new Rogater sprayer.

To children’s delight the box continues to grow. Last year we added a New Holland tractor that was given to me by New Holland at the NAFB Convention. There is the CASE IH Magnum we received when we toured the plant. We can’t seem to figure out where the New Holland combine came from, but hey, who doesn’t want to have two combines?

What we find interesting is all the children that play with the machinery have their own at home. For some reason because the toys are Zach’s they are somehow special or better than theirs at home. Our buddy Keaton calls them Zach’s dealer toys. I think he is under the impression that Zach get toys from farm equipment dealers that can’t be bought by the public…..

The two-year-old gives the 30-something an excuse to get out his old machinery and the 50-something a reason to tell them both how to use it.

Maybe that’s the draw of toy farm equipment. Young and old get the chance to have the iron they always wanted, or dreamed of having.

When he grows up will he use a red or a green baler? Tyson’s still deciding.

Heather Hetterick has been promoting agriculture from an early age. From her 4-H and FFA days to present, sharing the ag story has been important to Heather.

Her current responsibilities include reporting for the Ohio Ag Net, filling in for Dale Minyo and sales for the radio network. She is also involved with sales for Ohio’s Country Journal.

She is a graduate of the Ohio State University, where she was named one of the Top 10 Seniors in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. After college Heather was the Director of Marketing & Education for the Ohio Pork Producers Council. She then went on to work for Clear Channel Radio and Time Warner Cable before joining the Ohio Ag Net.

Heather also blogs about food, frugality and freebies at http://www.heathershelpings.com. She resides in Shelby County, near Botkins, with her husband Zach.

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