Anyone who lined the streets for last Saturday's Mineral County Fair Parade knows one thing for certain: when the Tractor Team appears, smiles are guaranteed.

Long before the fire trucks and floats have passed, spectators begin looking down the street for the familiar collection of vintage tractors. American flags wave proudly from the machines as the drivers weave playful circles through the parade route, toss candy to children, exchange good-natured banter with friends along the sidewalks and, every now and then, provide a little extra excitement when one of the aging tractors decides it has had enough for the day.

At the center of the fun is Charlie Stevens. Stevens, well known throughout Mineral County as the former co-owner of Superior Color & Lumber, has become one of the most recognizable faces behind the wheel of an antique tractor. Charlie and his wife, Peggy, purchased the original Color Center from Peggy's parents and expanded it into a full-service lumber business before turning it over to their daughter Hope and son-in-law Rob in 2007.

Although many people associate Stevens with the parade tractors today, he laughs when admitting he was actually a late arrival to the group. 

"Curt, Denley and Matt started driving tractors in the local parades," Stevens recalled. "I didn't get involved until about seven or eight years ago. They were already doing it." 

Then fate stepped in. 

"I went to Spokane and there was a tractor for sale down there, so I bought it," he said with a grin. "Then I got in parades with them. Curt started working on mine, and I ended up with a whole bunch (of tractors)." 

Exactly how many tractors? Stevens just laughs. 

"There's one at Curt's, Matt's got three or four, then I've got the John Deere in town. I'm a John Deere man."

That loyalty goes back to his childhood growing up on a farm in North Dakota. 

"I used to mow hay with a John Deere B. You bet!" 

Farming had been a big part of Stevens' life. He sold his North Dakota farm in 1978, but even before that he had already become part of Superior's history. In 1972 he worked with the construction company that built the bridge crossing the Clark Fork River, now known as Veterans Bridge, a structure that has become one of the community's best-known landmarks and a centerpiece during local celebrations.

Parades have also been part of Stevens' life for decades. Back when Superior Color & Lumber entered elaborate floats, he became known as one of the parade's fiercest competitors. 

"I used to win the float parade all the time," he said with a laugh. "I had Charlie's Angels when I had the kids and others." 

Eventually another local parade legend began collecting the trophies. 

"Stroot finally took the trophy away from me and I never got it back." 

That would be Jerry Stroot of Superior Meats, whose famous parade floats featured enormous trophy elk antlers from bulls he had harvested over the years. With neighborhood kids tossing samples of the business's famous jerky to spectators, Stroot became one of Stevens' favorite rivals.

Today, instead of competing for trophies, Stevens enjoys creating memories from the seat of an antique tractor. 

"There was one time we had four or five of them out there with a couple of John Deeres," he remembered. "It was kind of a traffic hazard because everybody stopped to take pictures." 

Of course, driving 70-year-old tractors comes with its own set of challenges. Among the other drivers, there's an ongoing joke about whether Charlie's tractor will actually finish the parade. 

"Usually it's the carburetor gumming up," Stevens admitted. "Stroot pulled me through one year after it quit. That's the hand-start tractor that doesn't run very good anyway." 

Another one of his John Deeres now sits in a barn owned by fellow tractor enthusiast Denley Loge, patiently waiting for someone to bring it back to life after three years. One tractor that many residents remember is the one with "Charlie" proudly painted across its hood. Stevens eventually gave that machine to Curt Mintz, where it now helps anchor the growing display of antique tractors and American flags along Montana 135 just east of St. Regis. 

"I never sell any of them," Stevens said. "I think they look better in Curt's yard."

The fun doesn't end when the parade is over. Stevens is a regular at the morning coffee club at the St. Regis Senior Citizens Center, where the first meeting after every parade has become something of a tradition. 

"They roast me every time I go there," he laughed. "It's a roaster." 

The good-natured teasing is all part of the friendship shared by a group of men who have turned antique tractors into rolling entertainment. Alongside Stevens are Curt Mintz, Matt Eisenbacher with his collection of Farmall tractors, Denley Loge driving his Farmall Cub, Gary Garber proudly piloting his beautifully restored Ford 8N, and Bob Clyde behind the wheel of a rare Massey-Harris Mustang. Most of the tractors date back to the late 1940s and early 1950s, making them rolling pieces of American agricultural history.

Whether they're entertaining crowds in Superior, St. Regis, Plains or other communities throughout Mineral and Sanders counties, the Tractor Team has become much more than another parade entry. They represent a simpler time, celebrate the machinery that helped build rural America, and remind everyone that community traditions are often kept alive by friends who simply enjoy making people smile. 

Judging by the cheers, laughter and camera phones lining this year's parade route, the Tractor Team remains one of the most anticipated sights of every hometown celebration, and Charlie Stevens wouldn't have it any other way.