Dryden, NY — This year brought us to the 29th Annual Dryden Dairy Day. The parade is part of a full celebration of June is Dairy Month. Dryden is a small farming community in Upstate New York that is surrounded by area farms. The event incorporates local business, schools and churches for a fun-filled parade and then a gathering at the small community park. Everything in the park is based on the goodness of Dairy and Dairy products.
This year the parade was dedicated to a local Grange member and long time farmer, Roger  Gleason, and after the area farmers losing one of the most reliable and trusted repairman in April, a local Dryden Dairy farmer was inspired to organize a tractor procession for the end of the parade. Troy Sherman, a farmer from just outside of town honored his best friend and tractor repairman, Melvin Jackson Scholes Jr., in a way that would have made “Tractor Jack” proud.
Over 50 tractors lined up for the largest number of tractors to ever take part in the parade. As they rolled through the streets of the quaint rural Upstate New York town, tractors from the surrounding region showed their respect and honor to a man who provided over 20 years of tractor service to over 150 regional farms.
Jack was based in a neighboring community, Groton, but travelled into towns hours away. He is missed dearly by his family, friends and extended farming family. I think that he was looking down from above with a smile on his face, saying “Living the Dream” while watching all those shined up tractors roll down Main Street.
Jack’s daughter, Julie Scholes said “I want to thank everyone for their participation in the parade. Troy Sherman was awesome for getting this together. I can’t express enough gratitude to everyone that took time from their busy lives to honor my dad. Thank You!”