CARLETON, Mich. (AP) — Chase Harvell rolled into the Airport High School parking lot Friday in southeastern Michigan one final time before next week’s graduation.Harvell was driving a family vehicle, just as he had countless times before.This set of wheels, though, topped out at around 25 mph (40 kph).Harvell and dozens of his fellow seniors eschewed their cars and trucks and arrived in tractors, ATVs, golf carts and more.It was all part of Tractor Day, a celebration that dates back to the 1980s at the school in Carleton, Michigan, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Detroit. Most students arrived by 7:30 a.m., but the fun was to continue throughout the day with games, music and lunch catered by a local restaurant.The annual event is not only a fun going-away celebration for seniors but also serves to honor the area’s agricultural heritage.
“We’re just a farm school,” Harvell said. “It’s a tradition. Everyone’s done it before us. We just carry it on.”The fourth-generation farmer on Friday was behind the wheel of a Case 305 Magnum, the same tractor used to till the soil where he and his family grow soybeans and corn. And the one his older brother drove to Tractor Day three years ago.
