Local John Deere tractor dealership Hall Implement in Windham hosted its 46th annual Farmer’s Night last Thursday, March 15, hauling in folks from Cumberland, York and Oxford counties to watch videos of the new John Deere products and mingle with their fellow agriculturists.

“We’ve had some cold winter nights, but our good faithful customers always show up,” said George Hall, president of the dealership. He said the turnout has always been good.

“We have 200 chairs and we usually fill all of them,” he said.

When the Hall’s started Farmer’s Night in 1961 they hosted it in the Pleasant River Grange Hall. John Deere now gives them a DVD instead of film, and a laptop feeds the movie into a projector but the spirit of the night hasn’t changed.

Store Manager Steve Hall said this year’s DVD was an hour and 15 minutes long, but he edited it down to 38 minutes.

“We don’t want it too long or they get restless,” he said. A lot of the material he cuts out is for farming equipment like combines that are used on crops that the Maine soil can’t support.

“Once in a while I’ll put some things in that’s not related to our store so people can see what it looks like,” said Steve Hall.

The video also included a singing farmer puppet and other short features related more to farming than tractors. Last year’s video showed the warning signs of when a methamphetamine lab has moved into the neighborhood.

Patrons are given free, hot popcorn, doughnuts, chocolate milk and maple syrup over ice cream and free door prizes are given after the video.

George Hall said his 14 employees don’t apply any sales pressure during Farmer’s Night and no temporary price reductions are announced.

“It’s a good-will gesture,” he said. “You bought something yesterday, why should someone else come in today and pay less for it?”

Attendee Rick Parady, of Gorham, spent a lot of time leaning against the counter talking to George Hall about this and that.

“You can ask him the stupidest question and he’ll give you an answer,” Parady said about George Hall. “They don’t make ’em like they used to.”

Murphey Hilton who owns polled Hereford beef cattle in South Berwick, said he’s been coming to Farmer’s Night for the last four or five years.

“The food’s good,” he said.

Clayton Haskell of the Maine Farm Bureau said he’s been coming to this event “for a long time.” He said it gives him a change to see people.

Dick Wood, 82, of Gray, lost track of how many Farmer’s Nights he’s gone to, but guesses it’s between 30 and 40.

“You see a lot of people you don’t see for the rest of the year, it’s like a town meeting,” he said.

The video wrapped up around 8 p.m. and the party broke up about an hour later.

“We gotta get them home so they can do chores,” George Hall said.

Hallimplement1 & Hallimplement2: Farmers watch the screen at the 46th annual Farmer’s Night at Hall Implement in Windham. The event shows advertisements of the new John Deere equipment and acts as a gathering place for the local farming community. Hallimplement1 & Hallimplement2: Farmers watch the screen at the 46th annual Farmer’s Night at Hall Implement in Windham. The event shows advertisements of the new John Deere equipment and acts as a gathering place for the local farming community.Hallimplement3: Lauren Barrett, 9, of Windham and George Hall watch as Steve Hall calls out the winner of a door prize at the 46th annual Farmer’s Night at Hall Implement in Windham. The event shows advertisements of the new John Deere equipment and acts as a gathering place for the local farming community.