We would like to submit our club member, Carl Ross, to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, for his long time dedication, in collecting antique engines, restoring them and displaying them, at our many West Coast Tractor & Engine Shows, for over 20 Years.
Carl has been an active member of our Branch (#30) since 1989 (24 years), an active member of the “Central Coast Branch” (#27) since 1990 (23 Years), an active member of the “Fresno Branch” (#8) since 2009 (4 years) and an active and charter member of the “Tulare Branch” (#209) since 2010 (3 Years).
Carl is a retired school teacher and a commercial farmer that raises over 40 acres of oranges annually, on his large farm in Ducor, Ca. near Porterville. He has been a Past Board Member, in the Central Coast Branch #27, and is very active in all of the aforementioned clubs. Carl is a real showman, in that his displays are always antique engines driving something. It could be something as simple as a saw, water pump, grinder, or a feed cuter. His display engines are extra ordinary, such as an Emerson Brantingham 1 ½ HP or a Foos Junior 2 ½ HP, and he also displays large engines, such as the 6 HP Witte or a 4 HP Bullseye, both are Hit & Miss engines.
If you were at California Antique Farm & Equipment Show in Tulare last year, you would have seen Carl driving his New 1929 Rumely Oil Pull Tractor for the first time, in the tractor parade. What a showman.
I would like to mention the different West Coast shows that Carl displays at every year: The Antelope Valley Fair & Alfalfa Festival, Lancaster, Ca. The Mojave River Trail Days Show in Helendale, Ca. The Kern County Fair, The Memorial Day, Cayucos Way Station Show in Cayucos, Ca., The Taft Oil Museum, twice a year in Taft, Ca., 4th of July Goleta Show in Goleta, Ca., and the California Antique Farm & Equipment Show in Tulare, Ca. I may have missed a few? At Christmas time Carl is an active “Santa Clause”, in the Porterville area and at many clubs. Carl has a full white beard and loves to entertain the children and is always there to help.