Crank Up Antique Engine Show draws crowd

Engines could be heard throughout Sciota all weekend long.
The 44th Crank Up Antique Engine Show went from Thursday, June 4, through Saturday, June 6, with a solid turnout each day on Geoff Hutchings’ farm right on the border between Unicoi County and Carter County, according to East Tennessee Antique Engines Association president Dave Keplinger.
“We had a good show and a lot of fun,” he said on Saturday. “This is the ideal weather. It is always enjoyable to be here and have fellowship with friends.”
Individuals from all across the Southeast, including South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Alabama and Florida, stopped to take in the sights and sounds of the engines brought to the property, Keplinger said.
Throughout the three-day event, individuals were able to take in different types of engines including internal combustions, tractors and other items. The pieces on hand at the festival were primarily for farm work years ago, Keplinger explained.
Charlie Oaks, of North Carolina, brought his Emerson-Brantingham 1.5 horsepower engine, which was recently restored. Will Bledsoe was in attendance at the event and mentioned he enjoys the trips after coming to the Crank Up over ‘several years’.
The generational gap was also bridged during the event, according to Keplinger.
“We teach kids about how things were used back on the farm,” Keplinger said. “How things were in the day back before things were run with electricity. You and I didn’t have to go through that, but they grounded corn, sawed wood for the house, baled hay … about anything you can think of, they could do it. Some were able to even produce electricity later on.”
Along with the festivities, First Baptist Church of Bristol, Va., assisted at the Crank Up.
“We had a youth group come in from Bristol,” Keplinger said. “They came in and helped with food and made the homemade ice cream. That was the finest group of kids I’ve ever been around. They were a great group of kids that were nice and well-mannered.”
With current engine owners getting older, the importance of the Crank Up is about letting the younger generation know about the history, Keplinger said.
“That’s one thing about the engine folks,” he added. “They’re just a good bunch of people. Younger people haven’t really taken up with it because they haven’t been around it long enough. But with all the festivals going on during this time of the year, we’re happy to see what came out of this year’s event.”
To be part of the East Tennessee Antique Engines Association, contact Hutchings, Keplinger said.
“We always meet the third or fourth of each month,” he added. “It is a family thing. The wives come out with us, meet, eat and have a fun time.”