BUCKLEY -- Steam spewed from a 1919 Chase engine as it chugged down a dirt path, while the twang of an old-time band spilled from a hilltop.
Amid the clamor, Aaron Huttenga, 5, fiddled with an antique farm tractor.
"I wonder what this lever does," Aaron said as he gave it a yank.
His brother Nicklas, 3, watched with interest, but both let out a sigh when the machine didn't come to life.
Their grandmother, Gail Steenwyk, carted the boys up from Hudsonville Thursday for the 41st Annual Buckley Old Engine Show, where they planned to watch the threshing and plowing demonstrations, browse rows of old-fashioned tractors, and take in the massive flea market.
"They are just thrilled with tractors," Steenwyk said. "They just like to get on one ... then go right to another one."
Hundreds of camping trailers surrounded the grounds off M-37 in Buckley for the opening of the four-day show. Droves of spectators marveled at the machinery of yesteryear.
Wood shavings dusted visitors who gathered around an antique, tractor-powered Pringle & Brodie bowl mill once used to produce hundreds of 8-inch wooden salad bowls each day. The click-clack of an early gas-powered mower greeted guests at another booth lined with numerous decades-old boat motors.
Down the line, smoke puffed from John Wilson's 1915 Sears Economy engine as it sat among rows of restored lawn tractors and vintage chain saws.
"My dad found this behind a guy's barn years ago and he always wanted to get it running (but) he passed away," Wilson, of Manton, said as the shiny red, hit-and-miss motor kicked on. "I feel good because it's something that hasn't run for 80 years. During World War II, a lot of these engines got melted up for scrap iron."
DeWitt residents Bob and Linda Reynolds like to come to Buckley for those little history lessons, Bob said as he stood in line to have a set of wooden shingles branded with an engine show logo.
"This is probably one of the more fun ones, the shingles," Bob said over the buzz of a turn-of-the-century saw mill in the background. In the distance, a 1923 steam-powered train shoved off for another free tour.
Across the grounds, Benzonia resident Art Ellsworth looked over a section of John Deere tractors as he chatted with a friend. Ellsworth's wife recently died and the nostalgia of the old engines served as a welcome distraction.
"The kid comes out of you when you come down here," Ellsworth said. "I got on old John Deere B. I was brought up on a Farmall, so I like them all."
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