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SWANVILLE, Minn. - There were a lot of unique vehicles at the Little Falls prom April 26. A Camaro, Mustangs, and beefed up trucks lined the parking lot. However, one vehicle stood out, both figuratively and literally - a John Deere 8420 tractor.
Jared Capko borrowed a tractor from his family's 250-cow dairy near Swanville, Minn., to drive his date, Brook Teague, to prom.
"I didn't think it was as uncommon as it was. It was definitely worth doing," Capko said.
The idea came up in passing after the young couple decided to go to prom. When tossing around the idea of how to get there, Jared jokingly threw out the idea of taking a tractor.
Brook loved it.
"It was more of a joke thing. He said, 'why don't we take a tractor,' and I said 'Yeah, why don't we take a tractor," Teague said.
After Capko picked up Teague, who lives near Royalton, the couple went back to the Capkos' farm for a few photos before hopping in the tractor. Capko was behind the wheel and Teague in the buddy seat.
"I was wondering if this really was going to work out with her high heels and puffy dress, but it actually went really well," Capko said.
The drive to prom turned out to be quite interesting for both Teague and Capko. They turned more then one head when passersby saw a young man in a tux and a lady in a lavish blue dress heading east to Little Falls on State Highway 27.
"When people drove by, they snapped their heads back to look up," Teague said. "That was the best part of prom - driving and watching peoples reactions; it was interesting. We laughed so hard, we almost cried."
The double takes continued when the 230-horsepower tractor rolled into the Little Falls school parking lot and found its spot in the front row amidst all the shiny cars.
"The best thing was seeing all the people when we drove into prom. Everybody was outside and the parents and the couples heads just turned," Capko said.
The night continued with grand march and then a dance, but the tractor was still on many promgoers minds.
"People were pretty shocked, but they thought it was a pretty neat thing to do," said Teague, who said 130 couples attended the prom. "I had a couple friends say how jealous they were."
Capko added, "The whole evening people kept coming up to me asking, 'Were you the one that brought the tractor?'"
After prom, the two headed home with a handful of memories, many centered around riding high in a tractor.
"The time riding down the road in the tractor, the whole thing it was kind of fun," Capko said.
This wasn't the first time Teague had spent time in a tractor at Capko's.
The 18-year old has helped cut and rake hay along with combine.
"Every chance I get I'm always on his farm riding his tractor," said Teague.
Capko said preparing the tractor for it's first prom was quite a task. It took three days off from being the mixer tractor and got waxed and polished three times by David Czech, an employee of the Capkos, before it was deemed prom ready.
"He did an amazing job. He does all the cleaning on the farm," Capko said.
Both seniors will graduate from Little Falls High School in under a month before heading to college. Teague plans to attend St. Cloud State University and major in psychology and Capko plans to go to Ridgewater in Willmar for dairy management.
Wherever they go, they both will always remember prom 2014 in a tractor.
"We had a lot of fun with the tractor," Teague said.
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