July 2026 Newsletter

Aug 29

July flew by like a flash… with a few bangs thrown in!

Our country is now 250 yrs young, we had a fabulous show at Penfield, and we’ve been trying to stay cool here on the farm.

I know that we’re well past July and almost done with August, but I didn’t want to skip out on all of the great things that happened last month.

In this month’s newsletter, we’ll share some of our adventures, highlights from the I&I show, and a few of our newest cup designs.

Happy Independence Day!!

‍ ‍“And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died and gave that right to me. So I gladly stand up, next to you, and defend her still today, cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA!”

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance. - Psalm 33:12 KJV

We had a great time celebrating the 4th at our local Old Fashioned 4th of July in Paxton, IL. We took several of the old IH trucks along with a couple of Farmall Cubs. At the park, they had a tractor show, car show, all kinds of fun stuff for the kids, and they even had a Revolutionary War reenactor who read the Declaration of Independence. That evening, we ended the day with a fantastic fireworks display.

Where would you like to see us next?

If you’d like to hear about future shows, be sure to check the calendar on our website. Or, if you think we should come to a show near you, send us an email!

The 50th Ann. of The Historic Farm Days at Penfield, IL

The Historic Farm Days at Penfield is our 2nd favorite show! (#1 is Half Century) Overall, it was a great weekend featuring Allis Chalmers. The weather was hot, but thankfully with only a little bit of rain on Saturday morning.

This was an extra special year full of anniversaries, and the club celebrated with a bang! As we all know, it’s the 250th birthday of the USA, it was the 150th anniversary for the town of Penfield, and it was the 50th anniversary of the I & I Antique Tractor and Gas Engine Club.

So much to celebrate!

Saturday had a rainy start, but thankfully it cleared off around 10:00 am and they were able to have the tractor pulls and fireworks show that evening.

After the rain, the two of us took the time to drive around looking at the featured tractors. We’re always keeping an eye out for original decals and taking pictures of anything that could help us with future designs. The details matter to us because they matter to our customers.

We’re already looking forward to next year’s show, where they will be featuring IH/Farmall!

Rural Girl Adventures

and

New Designs!

We love being creative and coming up with unique Rural Girl style designs! Below are some examples of our custom creations.

Road Trip!

After the show at Penfield, we decided to check out the Will County Threshers show near Manhattan, IL

Their show is always mid-July, and this year they were featuring Allis-Chalmers. It was a hot, smoky morning, but a nice, quiet hour-and-a-half drive up to the Spiess Farm.

This is our 3rd year creating show cups for their event, and we were really happy with how they turned out!
As you can see, the cup design includes the featured tractor along with commemorating the 250th anniversary of the USA. We only made 30 cups, and each one is numbered 1-30.

Below are a few pictures from the show

They had a great activity area for the kids! They also had a petting zoo, a living history area with Civil War reenactors, and, of course, a great display of various tractors.

If you’re from the area, consider adding the Will County Antique Tractor and Steam Engine show to your list!

Around The Farm

Sometimes Rural Girls looks a little less like emails, bookwork, processing orders, or creating new designs and more like this……

Dad hatched out several chicks and ducklings this spring.
This little guy somehow escaped the incubator and surprised me when I walked into our “cooler shed”.

We took advantage of our abundance of cucumbers and made our Grandma Ricket’s sweet relish. YUM!

Rural Girls is more than just the name of our business; it’s who we are and who we’ll always be.

We hope everyone had a great summer!

Look for an email next week with info on our next show, NEW Fall designs, Christmas ordering information, and general happenings around the farmstead.