<p>Chugging red tractors lined up outside Morning Pointe Assisted Living in Franklin, waiting for their cue.</p><p>Members of Sam Tinkle’s family had come out Saturday riding the restored classic Farmall tractors that he loved so much. A lifelong farmer, Tinkle was partial to the brilliant red, American-made machines.</p><p>Now, in celebration of his 100th birthday, he was getting a tractor parade in celebration. Family members carried banners and cheered, while the historic tractors eased past Morning Pointe’s front entrance.</p><p>From a chair out front, Tinkle waved.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The parade was a small show of appreciation for an outstanding father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, even if everyone couldn’t physically be together to celebrate.</p><p>"He’s an amazing man. He deserves a lot of praise. To be around at his age, with what he’s seen and been through. I don’t know how the man does it," said Sam Tinkle Jr., his son.</p><p>Sam Tinkle Sr. was born on May 13, 1920, growing up on his family farm in Greenwood with his parents, Guy and Reba, and his 10 other siblings. </p><p>He attended Center Grove Community Schools, and graduated from Center Grove High School in 1938. He married his wife, Arvetta, in 1940. They had 16 children.</p><p>Agriculture was in his blood. As a child, Tinkle and his brothers helped their father with planting, harvesting, raising animals and other work. The family had a Case International tractor, the company that manufactured Farmall tractors. He was hired as a milk delivery man for Golden Guernsey Dairy in 1945, eventually working his way up to management over his 40-year career in the dairy business.</p><p>All the while, he continued raising crops and livestock on his own, almost as a hobby, Tinkle Jr. said. Farmall was his tractor of choice.</p><p>"It was pretty much what he grew up on," Tinkle Jr. said. "He’s always been partial to it."</p><p>Tinkle’s family had a tractor from Case International, the company that would end up making the Farmall series, when he was growing. They later had an F-20 Farmall, where Tinkle grew his connection to the brand.</p><p>Farming on his own, Tinkle continued on his affinity for Farmall, even after trying different types on his own.</p><p>"He had a John Deere he borrowed, but didn’t care much for it," Tinkle Jr. said.</p><p>The love of Farmall was passed down to his sons. They continue to use the brand, and helped preserve their father’s own collection. After Tinkle retired, they helped to have all of his old models restored, heirlooms passed down through the family.</p><p>A Farmall H that Tinkle had purchased in 1956 is still in the family, Tinkle Jr. said.</p><p>"That same tractor, when I was just a little boy, he traded that off for a bigger tractor. A few years later, he went to an auction and bought that exact same H tractor back. So it was just a few years it wasn’t with us," he said. </p><p>They had another tractor, a Farmall M, that had a habit of catching fire, Tinkle Jr. said. They had been working in the fields harvesting corn. They had finished late at night, and parked the tractor in the barn. After stopping to say goodbye to a family member, they noticed smoke. Tinkle sprinted to the barn, and started the tractor up even as it was on fire to save the barn, Tinkle Jr. said.</p><p>Once the tractor was out of the barn, Tinkle beat it out with his gloves. By the time he got it all out, the fire department had arrived.</p><p>Another time, they were out in the field on the same Farmall M, and dried corn shucks got up under the manifold. Again, it caught fire.</p><p>"That Farmall M, it has some good stories with it," Tinkle Jr. said.</p><p>Tinkle Jr. became involved in the Johnson County Antique Machinery Association, bringing tractors down to events and shows along with his father. Tinkle became a regular driving his Farmalls to the Indiana State Fair each summer.</p><p>With a milestone like a 100th birthday approaching, it was only natural for the family to incorporate the tractors into the celebration. Morning Pointe Assisted Living has been closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so family couldn’t have a party in the traditional sense.</p><p>This will be a small way to adapt to that, Tinkle Jr. said.</p><p>"I know he’ll be tickled by it," he said.</p>
