Meet Heather Russell | Event Coordinator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Heather Russell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Heather, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
Personally, the lord comes first in my life and family follows. I was raised in a community that thrives on helping others and going to church. With values like that being a norm and having a community that will help a neighbor when in need, has really shaped me as a person. Honestly, growing up closely with the family of the Denton FarmPark is why the Park means so much to me, it feels like home!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
In 1970, Denton FarmPark’s Owner, Brown Loflin was driving and came upon a local rescue squad member who was having problems with a lighting generator. A conversation ensued about the lack funds for fixing the generator along with other equipment and an idea was hatched in the mind of Brown Loflin. Loflin, a flying enthusiast, had the idea of having a “Fly-In”. He gave people plane rides for a fee in order to help the local rescue squad buy some much needed equipment. The First Fly-in was held on July 4, 1970. Not only did they offer airplane rides for a price but you could buy a home cooked meal afterwards. It was a Smashing Success! The lines for the plane rides became extremely long giving Loflin the idea to add a demonstration of wheat threshing and display tractors to ease the impatience of people waiting in line for the plane ride. This continued until it was no longer safe to give plane rides due to the crowed, so the name of the event was changed from the “Fly-In” to the “Southeast Old Threshers Reunion”. That move was very Successful, because it became evident that there were many collectors who wanted a place to show their collections. “We didn’t know what we were getting into,” Loflin recalled. “We found out there were a lot of antique machinery collectors looking for a place to gather, and a lot of people who were interested in looking at it, and we sure did get caught up in it.” A myriad of other shows were visited throughout the nation to gather ideas for what would become the area’s largest event. The Event expanded over the years from one, two, three, four, to now Five days. Construction over the 50 plus years has changed the Denton Airport, which was a grassed runway with an open-sided shelter as a hangar for the airplane, into a virtual small town with a 15,000 square foot exhibition building, a covered pavilion for music, a restoration shop with much equipment used for the restoring of machinery of all shapes and sizes, a second exhibit building called the craft barn, a general store/post office, a church, machine shop, radio museum, service station, shoe shop, doll museum, grist mill, coke museum, bath and restroom facilities, and other structures for dispensing food and beverages. Recent Reunions have brought 55,000-plus to Denton FarmPark. The Steam Shovel was brought to Denton FarmPark and Painstakingly restored after being used as a fixture on a billboard in Harrisonburg VA in 1976. In 1979, a 1942 HK Porter steam locomotive was Purchased from Dave Bernhardt and Associates in Mt. Pleasant, NC. It was then brought to the Denton FarmPark from Burnsville, NC. It was restored along with three passenger cars, a tender and a caboose. The path of the railroad tracks was prepared and placed on the ground with the help of Fred Russell, my great grandfather, and others from the community. The track was built circling the park totaling 1½ miles and a train station was relocated to the park. Thus the Handy Dandy RailRoad was created. Starting in 1984 The Denton FarmPark hosts a pageant and crowns a Southeast Old Threshers Reunion Queen Every year during the Southeast Old Threshers Reunion the first week of July. The winner of the pageant receives a scholarship thanks to generous sponsors to help with the Queen’s education and represents the Southeast Old Threshers Reunion at other events throughout NC for the year. May of 1988 from Maxton, N.C., The monstrous 24-foot-long Bates-Corliss steam engine was transported and placed next to Denton FarmPark’s exhibit hall after we fully restored it. Also in 1993 The Charlotte Cotton Compress, an integral part of North Carolina agricultural and textile heritage, was dismantled and moved to the Denton FarmPark to save it from being scrapped. The 1898 Cotton Compress originated in Charlotte, NC on North Brevard Street in a rail yard. It weighs 125 tons and is 127 years old. It is the tallest structure at Denton FarmPark. It was located at a warehouse, that was once one of North Carolina’s longest buildings, that stretched for nearly a quarter of a mile and it still operates to this day. Many other unique antiques were brought in and restored throughout the years including; HPT&D diesel locomotive, the famous Frances Bavier’s 1966 Studebaker, Adaline Loftin Cabin, Tramping Barn, The Richmond Reid Plantation, and so much more!

The three most important things to the Denton FarmPark are, our faith, our family and our community.
This is due to growing up in a close-knit community where community, family and faith are very important. We thrive to make our business as family oriented and friendly as possible. In these times where social media, cell phones and anything tech oriented, we want to maintain that in person connections and in person learning is still beneficial. We want the young generation to put down the phones and learn to experience history and spark conversations with families and new friends in person. We want our guests to come and be immersed in history and to learn from live demonstrations of how things were done and how it progressed to the technology we have today. It is the perfect opportunity for a son or daughter to ask questions to Mom or Dad and have a conversation instead of googling on the phone or computer. It is an actual view with the eyes in real time and engaging each other in conversation. It is also a teaching aspect that the kids today do not get in schools. The community also is involved by physically doing parts of a demonstration, such as plowing, sawmilling or being the engineer on the train during the Southeast Old Threshers Reunion. The number of events that occur at Denton FarmPark has increased substantially over the years. Each event is different in its own way, but we try to include this teaching opportunity in as many events as possible.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The Denton FarmPark during the fourth of July week is an unforgettable experience! When you come to this event it’s like stepping back in history. You see old buildings and equipment that’s all running like it did back in its prime. Our buildings like the Plantation, trampling barn, general store with post office attached in the back, shoe shop, gas station, train station, church, the radio museum, and a few others are restored and brought in from Jackson Hill and the Gristmill was moved here from Gastonia. The other buildings were built here. You can go inside all the buildings and see what it used to look like, and you can even buy an old-fashioned coke from the general store. The crowd favorite is the Handy Dandy RailRoad. The passenger train runs around half of the the park on a mile and a half long track. There are cowboy shows on the train every hour. The cowboys ride the train to keep the people “safe” from a bad group of bandits who stop the train and try to steal its money and rob the people. The cowboys jump off and try to put a stop to the bandits, but the bandits don’t go down without a fight. Experience a “shootout” right there beside the train. When the smoke settles you notice that the cowboys win and get back on the train to safely get the people back to the station without any other holdups.
After the Train ride you can see thousands of antique tractors and even witness the daily parade of power. The parade of power happens every day at 4:00 in the center of the park. This is for all types of tractors and is lead with our Steam Tractors and everyone who exhibits a tractor or lawn tractor is allowed to jump right in line and show off what they brought to the event. We will announce what the tractor is and the name of who owns it to the crowd as they slowly pass by. We will also have a Decorated Golf Cart Parade, with our campers and exhibitors, following the Parade of power only on the 4th of July. So, make sure those golf carts are well decorated in that red, white, and blue!
Every day at certain times we have demonstrations all around the park on how things work. The demonstrations include: The sawmill, Corlis engine, Thrashing, bailing & corn shilling with horsepower, machine shop operation, horses on treadmill, Veneer mill, thrashing with steam, steam shovel & steam crane in pit, shingle mill, wood splitter & rock crusher, border collie herding sheep and more. This event is a great learning experience and fun for the entire family.
In conclusion, see hundreds of hand plows, pop engines, and antique cars on display! Watch live farming and antique machinery demonstrations! Visit the Heritage Craft Barn for live artistry demonstrations and shop our NEW Handy Dandy Gift Shop for handmade crafts and gifts! Take a ride on the helicopter
and take in an incredible view! Hundreds of vendors, Southern cooking, on site bakery, mower pulls, horse pulls, tractor pulls, live entertainment in the music hall, fireworks, a pageant, and camping available! Honestly with everything that goes on during that event you will have to stay the full five days to really take it all in.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The wonderful community and of course the visionary of Denton FarmPark, Brown Loflin. He and his hard work made the Park what it is today. Under his guidance, he took a piece of land and transitioned it from a private airport into the now Denton FarmPark. He used it to tell a story of how the country of America lived and worked through the years and each technological advancement of plowing, threshing, bailing (etc.). With these qualities, he pursued his vision of building the Park where the qualities of family, faith and community would be so intertwined that future generations would hold it dear. He passed away in 2019. But his dream is still alive and through the efforts of his family and the surrounding community. We invite everyone to come and experience the events held here at the Denton FarmPark. We can’t wait to welcome you to our wonderful Family-owned Park!!

Website: https://dentonfarmpark.com/

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Image Credits
Heather Russell, Jan Watkins, Samantha Russell, and Mason Williams