SACO — The best part of the garden tractor pull, said organizer Ernest Lowell, is the smiling faces.

There were many smiles Sunday, when children involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Maine ”“ whether they were  “wish” kids themselves or their siblings ”“ climbed into the driver’s seat of a lawn tractor and pulled a weighted sled down a dirt track.

There was plenty of applause, plenty of vroom-vroom engine noise and lots of encouragement for the youngsters, whose days coping with serious illness usually aren’t much fun at all.

The pull is hosted by the Southern Maine Garden Tractor Club on Heather and Charlie Cole’s farm off Boom Road. In its third year, the family fun day event combines the pull with a free barbecue lunch and an auction to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants wishes to seriously ill children. Since its inception in Maine in 1992, more than 900 wishes have been granted.

Quinton Tozier, 16, of Ellsworth, who uses a wheelchair to get around, attended the event with his family and was hesitant about participating ”“ at first. But as he sat on the garden tractor that had been modified with a hand controls and he revved the engine, well, things changed and he went back for a second pull.

Jon Schomaker of Greene brought his son, Jonathan.

“He’s loving this,” his father said.

Cody Buzzell, 9, of Buxton, said little, but seemed to enjoy the event. His father, Ernie Nieves, said his son must travel to Boston every other week for chemotherapy to treat his brain cancer. It often leaves his son feeling pretty sick.

“This is a great thing,” said his father.

Six-year-old Ryan Menter got to ride a special tractor, built just for him.

Mike Curit and his son Devin met Menter last year, and the youngster expressed an interest in having a tractor.

But he had no one to build him one, until Curit came along.

Curit took a donated tractor and refurbished it, and had it painted a bright blue, with Menter’s name and Make-A-Wish inscribed.

Curit said all of his own children take part in tractor pulls ”“ his daughters, Devin and, he predicted, his three-year-old will take part in a few years.

“It’s a family thing,” he said of the hobby.

The garden tractor club was formed about four years ago and has grown from a handful of members to about 170. Members meet regularly in the summer months for “pulls,” where they rack up points for fun. Pulls are held in an adult class and a children’s class of those 6 years old and up. Tractors must be of a certain size and weight and have stock engines. Simply put, the tractors pull a 3,800-pound sled that carries a box of weights. As the weights gradually move up the sled, it becomes heavier and heavier.

Lowell said he got the idea to support Make-A-Wish Foundation three years ago at a club pot luck supper, when members were sitting around talking and the subject came up about how fortunate they were to have healthy children and grandchildren.

“It hit me just like that,” said Lowell, who suggested the next time a family fun pull was organized, that the club invite children who participate in the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

In 2009, the club raised $6,300 for Make-A-Wish. About $9,000 was raised from Sunday’s events.

Club president Linwood “Punky” Noble Noble, who served as announcer for Sunday’s event, said the annual pull for the children is fun and rewarding.

“I enjoy it ”“ to see those little guys faces,” he said.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.