North Carolina has a rich tradition with International Harvester.  One could say the cultivision tractor found a great home in the long leaf pine state.   From small farms to large operations, IH has been and is an important part of agriculture in NC and an important part of the lives of many individuals.   So it began with a desire to preserve this IH tradition and become more active members of the International Harvester Collectors, Inc.   Eastern North Carolina Chapter 37 has for many years carried the IH banner for the state.  Formation of a new Chapter could happen between the Greensboro, Asheville and Charlotte areas to bring greater awareness and participation to the overall preservation of the IHC brand in NC.

Interest in a North Carolina chapter was first discussed in March at the 2013 Windmill Acres Toy Show, an annual event for showing machinery and trading toys. Dick Forester, International Harvester Collectors, Inc Counsel and Chapter Development Chair, met with Tim Honeycutt, Neil Fishel, Dickie Wyrick, Charles Neal, Dale Humble and Alex McCauley.   Dick was impressed with the Wind Mill Acres show and encouraged the group to seek a new Chapter.  Those present began putting out feelers while Alex, parts man at the CaseIH dealer Southern Farm Supply, put information on his parts counter.

An organizational meeting was held about a month later on April 6^th, 2013 at Windmill Acres Farm, home of the Fishel Family, in Winston-Salem, NC.  Around 71 people were in attendance at this meeting. Several important things happened at this meeting. First we began by going over what IHCI was in addition to sharing many individual experiences with IHC equipment and memorabilia. Then we went over the business of what it would take to get approval from the NC Secretary of State and all the other legal requirements necessary to form a Chapter. The vote was unanimous to begin the process of forming a chapter and the officers and board of directors were elected. The initial group plus Gary Pickeral and Libby Humble were added to the board of directors with Tim Honeycutt being elected president.  It was an exciting meeting. One person, Daniel McAulay, an art teacher at Watauga High School in Boone NC, even doodled a design for a chapter logo on a napkin during the meeting. This would become the foundation of the logo.

We met again on June 9^th for an ice cream and desert social. This would become known as the deadline for charter membership.  There were over 120 people present for the second meeting. Most of this meeting was preparation for the Red Power Round Up with the objective to formally request to the national board of directors that this group be recognized as a chapter of IHCI. The group picture is of those that were present with The Fishel Family IH tractor collection.

At the Red Power Round Up on the afternoon of Friday, June 23, 2013 national president Bob Buxton presided over the Board meeting.  There were 121 membership applications turned in to IHCI at this point and 24 of the at large members were present at the national board meeting.    After a solid recommendation by the new chapter formation committee and a brief presentation by Tim Honeycutt, our president, the national board voted and we officially became Chapter 42 of IHCI.

We welcome anyone to join us at our quarterly meetings of special events.  So in the words of Dickie Wyrick, one of our former directors, we are running hard, we are running red.