Tractorpolooza is a fun, family event that includes many hands-on, interactive activities designed to introduce children to tractors and Loudoun's agricultural roots. It will be held Saturday, Jan. 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Heritage Farm Museum.
There is a toy tractor parade at 1 p.m. for children who bring their own tractors, which allows free admission for children. Children can also play on a large toy tractor mat of Loudoun County and take wagon rides.
"Think of yourself as a 5-year-old with a toy tractor," Mary
Novotny, manager of the Heritage Farm Museum, said. "Some [children] will dress up in their farmer clothes and with their toy tractors, they're ready to roll."
The Philip and Wanda Marshall Collection of 30 toy tractors and scale models with exceptional detail will be on display as well as real antique tractors and contemporary models.
THE MUSEUM of agriculture works with local schools in providing classes and programs that meet the SOL requirements for the schools. Last year, it had 16,000 visitors, and about half of those were children.
"Special events are a way for us to introduce the museum to new
audiences," Novotny said. "But also to provide something fun to the people who come here regularly."
She said the facility started out about 10 years ago as a place to put the colleciton of people who had been involved in agriculture. "It has really become the story of the people," she said.
The permanent exhibit is called "Just a Way of Life," and it talks
about 10 generations of people who have lived in this area. Most of those stories are of farms and farm families.
The exhibit includes a tractor owned by the Legard family from World War II, so it's one of the first tractors in Loudoun County.
The Heritage Farm Museum is located at Claude Moore Park in Sterling, 21668 Heritage Farm Lane, Sterling. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children, free for under 2. Children who bring a toy tractor for the parade get in for free. The rain date is Sunday, Jan. 11, from noon to 4 p.m. Call 571-258-3800 or visit www.heritagefarmmuseum.org.