Farmers Driving Out Cancer Via “The Greatest Tractor Parade”
There are some things, which are just hard to describe. Last week I participated in one of the greatest agricultural events to ever take place in Canada. The “Greatest Tractor Parade”, farmers driving out cancer took place last Saturday in my home community of Dresden Ontario. 1231 tractors crossed the finish line of the parade, breaking the previous Guinness book of world records of 601, but more importantly $104,000 plus were raised for the Canadian Cancer Society for cancer research.
It was quite an event and it is something that I have thought many times about since last weekend. Your loyal scribe has taken part in many farm rallies, including the big one, which I co-chaired in Ottawa in 2006. However, I must say there has been nothing in my life that has galvanized the agricultural community of southwestern Ontario like the tractor parade of last week and the fight against cancer.
Simply put cancer touches all families. Seeing the mass participation of farmers and their families with tractors coming out of the woodwork was a very moving moment for me. The organizing committee and its chairman, my neighbor, Ken Richards did a wonderful job in raising so much money and putting forward such a great idea.
I had first heard of this effort several months previous. As the weeks and months passed you could feel the momentum in the countryside, but with southwestern Ontario being one of the most dynamic agricultural areas in Canada, one could never tell whether a harvest season might trump a parade. With wheat harvest mainly in the rearview mirror of most farmers in the region, on the Friday before the parade you could almost feel the cancer fighting momentum in the air as tractors began to roll past my farm on the main road going into Dresden Ontario.
I left my farm that Friday afternoon and drove to the staging ground south of Dresden. On seeing the hundreds of tractors lined up already I truly realized that this was an agricultural event for a lifetime. The mood was very festive for the participants but at the same time for the organizers I’m sure it was very stressful. Weather and expectations were surely on their minds.
We all know that cancer can be beaten. I have listened to that slogan since I was a child, as my grandfather at one time was President of the local cancer society. However, here we are in 2010 and even though cancer survivor rates are much higher than they used to be, the disease is still a killer and very real on Canadian farms. In fact there are all kinds of scientific studies which link farming activities with increased incidence of cancer.
Hearing the word cancer is a very tough thing for all families. We have all been affected. Earlier this year, after a routine check on a skin abnormality, I got the phone call that it was cancerous. We are all at risk of skin cancer, especially those of us who have worked since early childhood on Canadian farms. It was explained to me that’s the reason I had skin cancer. The specialist told me that the type of cancer I had was the type you wanted if you heard the word cancer. So he removed that area and we move on, watching, checking and hoping never to hear it again.
Of course everybody has a story, and you can bet that every individual in southwestern Ontario farm country who was a riding a tractor last Saturday had one too. I think that the “Greatest Tractor Parade” was even more meaningful because it came from an idea from a cancer survivor. Of course it all came together with people that are probably dealing with cancer in one form or another over time. By smashing the world record, 1231 tractors gave a shout out that cancer can be beaten. As I drove my tractor down the parade route that day, it was pretty evident to me, spectator and tractor driver a like felt the same way.
So the cause was very good for those 1231 tractors parading through Dresden Ontario last week. What I really enjoyed was the camaraderie and the galvanization of the farm community around one cause. It is very rare to see that happen and in fact I think it is very unlikely to ever happen again. So for the moment last Saturday as we conversed in the staging ground and made our way into town, we made a difference. Yes, farmers working for farmers, but also farmers driving out cancer. Someday we’ll get it done.