Editorial: City of Belleville to welcome new event: Tractor Parade

On Monday, Aug. 15, Brad Traskos of Sumpter Township explained to the Belleville City Council how his Belleville Harvest Tractor Parade would work on Oct. 8. Traskos, retired Van Buren Township fire chief, has been doing tractor parades for years, including the tractor parade over the Mackinac Bridge the weekend after Labor Day.
As part of Belleville’s annual Harvest Fest, Traskos plans to bring from 30 to 40 tractors of every kind the first year to see if there’s a draw for it. He said it could rise to 60 tractors next year. He said last Saturday he was part of a tractor parade that had 205 tractors and raised $11,900 for a van to transport disabled veterans to the Ann Arbor VA.
He said he talked to Police Chief Luke in Sumpter and he plans to have officers at Sumpter and Willis roads and Sumpter and Bemis roads at the lights to help the parade move north starting at 10:30 a.m. from the staging area for the tractors at his place on Willis Road.
It will roll north and get to Belleville at around 11 a.m. The tractors will roll north on Main Street and turn south on North Liberty to begin the route home, which will be by way of Huron River Drive and Haggerty to Harris and back to Willis for lunch. Traskos said they put raincoats on and “a lot are old like me and crazy.” Sounds like a great addition to the Harvest Fest celebration in Belleville on Oct. 8.