DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — The Farm Progress Show kicked off in Decatur on Tuesday and one group at the show celebrated the history of a special tractor in a unique way.

The Illinois International Harvester Collectors Chapter 10 is celebrating 100 years of the Farmall tractor, and more than 70 years of the Farm Progress Show.

The tractor celebration, consisting of models from the first ones to the more recent versions, started at the Half Century of Progress show in Rantoul. After that ended, it was time to parade to the next show.

“I drove the route from Decatur to Rantoul, and that was going to be 70 miles and that was going too far as far as time frame,” said Russel Buhn, Do Director of the Half Century of Progress Farm Show.

To make the drive easier, the group moved to Farmer City and parked at the Central Illinois Ag building. That way, they could still parade their historic pieces through Central Illinois and to Decatur, celebrating their piece of farming history.

“We’re trying to get a little variety of everything we’ve got,” Buhn said.

It also allows people to celebrate and appreciate old and new technology that farmers use today.

“These old machines remind us how far we’ve come,” said Max Armstrong, a retired farm broadcaster. “Back in the era, it would’ve taken months and many many weeks to plant a crop.”

But the reason behind the parade was to show off more than just the unique red color of the tractors.

“I was delivered to a hospital just about two blocks from the dealership where this tractor was delivered the same summer,” Armstrong said. “So there’s a sentimental attachment and I think that’s the case for most of us who have these old farm tractors.”

“The tractor I’m driving was in the family from 1948, bought it brand new in 1948,” Buhn said. “We’ve had it for 75 years.”

So they can show off their proud family history at the same time.

The tractors will be on display through the end of the Farm Progress Show on Thursday.