This page is in memory of a couple of dear old-engine and tractor folk.

All images are  © 1999-2006 Rick Weaver.

Lee Pitts

Lee was one of those gentle folk who'd help you out however he could.  The story of how we met was a little surreal.  Sarah and I were attending the Portland, Indiana show in 1999, and one evening after a tiring day, we went back to the hotel.  As I got things out of the car to take inside, I noticed a fellow in the parking lot putting an engine that he had just bought under a tarp in the bed of his pickup truck.  We began talking and I asked where he was from.  He said Tennessee.  I asked whereabouts in Tennessee, and he said, "around Memphis".  Upon further questions and answers, we discovered that we lived less than 5 miles from each other.  Now how strange is that - to be at a show hundreds of miles away, and meet someone from your neck of the woods staying in the same hotel.  The restored engine you see below in the photos is the upright marine engine Lee purchased at Portland that year.  He collected Brigg's engines in particular, and also had a dozen or so other hit-and-miss engines that he'd proudly show you if you even whispered "old iron".

Also at that Portland show I found out that Lee worked on small engines for a living, and he became our "small engine guy" for the next few years.  He always recommended good equipment for us to purchase if we needed it, and his service was always top-notch.

A couple of years ago, Lee was diagnosed with cancer and went through a particularly rough time with chemotherapy.  He went back to work for a short while in 2006 until one day someone called and said he had passed away.  Below he is showing that Portland-bought marine engine to my wife Sarah, at a Mid-South Flywheelers' show one year.

Clarence Carhill

Unfortunately we did not get to know Clarence very well.  Sarah and I met Clarence at the first Ferguson gathering at Freeport, Illinois, in 1999.  He immediately befriended us, and my recollection of him is that of a gentle teddy-bear grandfatherly sort, who made you feel welcome and would give you all he had if he thought you needed it.  Another thing that made us feel akin to him was that he was from Arkansas, our part of the country.  He passed away very suddenly in 2002.

Below is a shot we found in our photo archives of Clarence, with his son Gary and two grandsons.  I think I can see the pride in his face that his family was there with him.

The sign was also Clarence's, and I believe it is now in the safe hands of Jim Storment, who has made a three point hitch signpost so he can drive in parades with it.  A photo is here.