For the past five decades, Cork Wagner has been a key organizer of the Elkhart County tractor pull. He stepped into the role of director in 1990s and held that position for 23 years. His involvement started in 1976 and has continued to the present. All totaled, he has assisted with the tractor pull in some capacity for a total of 50 years.
During last Thursday's annual tractor pull at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, Wagner was honored for his half-century of service. He received a plaque from Fred Jessup, the man who replaced him as director.
When interviewed the next day, Wagner, of New Paris, said he doesn't believe he was qualified to serve as tractor pull director. As he pointed out in the interview, the tractor pull belongs to the community. When he started out, he was "just a salesman" and didn't know much about the world of tractor pulling. He worked for Kauffman and Sons in Goshen.
"I was just a little old John Deere salesman," he said.
Wagner partnered with a more experienced fair board member named Denny Fisher. Fisher told Wagner to kiss the babies and shake people's hands and he would do the rest. That formula proved to be successful.
"I did the paperwork. I went to the meetings, and I did that kind of stuff," Wagner said. "He salted the track."
Back in the early days, the tractor pull was held behind the old quarter-mile track, which no longer exists. The Elkhart County tractor pull was a Class C Hoosier State Tractor Pull, the lowest profile event on the circuit.
With support from the fair board, Wagner was able to make improvements. Fairgoers wanted to see better equipment and flashier tractors. Wagner made that happen. Elkhart County joined the American Tractor Pullers Assn., then the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League and, currently, the Hot Shot's Secret Pro Pulling League. The Elkhart County Tractor Pull competes at the highest level of that circuit, which Wagner said is one of the best sanctioning bodies in the U.S.
As improvements were made, the community responded by showing up in large numbers.
"We went from one of the worst days of the fair to one of the best days of the fair," he said. "When I started on this, Thursday was one of the worst days attendance-wise."
If, in the beginning, Wagner felt unqualified to serve as tractor pull director, the succeeding years have shown that he was more than capable, as evidenced by the recognition he has received.
Wagner served as fair board president in 2006 and earned the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League. But, according to Wagner, the reward for being tractor pull director is knowing that he has improved the fair for the benefit of the community.
"It's their show," he said. "It's not mine. It never was mine. I just happened to be lucky enough to make a couple decisions to help get it to where it's at. But it was for the people. I was doing my job."