The main attraction at the Churchville Lions Country Fair is the tractors. Antique tractors will line the streets of Churchville for miles during the opening parade, the antique steam engine tractor will whistle and snort its way around the fairgrounds pulling a hay wagon all weekend, and you will hear the reving of the tractor pull from one end of the village to the other.

And if that is not enough, on Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m., you will be able to witness the Western New York Garden Tractor Pullers Association Inc. in action on the fairgrounds.

"We put on quite a show," said WNY Garden Tractor Puller George Klapp. "Everyone’s impressed when they come out and see it… There’s lots of noise. Lots of dirt flying everywhere."

Klapp said the association has about 60 members who compete in four different classes: altered stockers and pro stockers, which have garden tractor engines; and modifieds and super modifieds, which can have car, snowmobile, motorcycle -- pretty much any kind of engine.

Even the so-called "stock" garden tractors, which may look like ordinary lawn-mowing garden tractors on the outside, are anything but. "There’s not much that’s stock on them," Klapp said.

All the tractors have souped-up engines, and can run on anything from gas to diesel to alcohol depending on their class. Some pullers modify their own tractors, some pay to have it done.

Klapp has been competing in the club for eight years, his wife Paula for three. There are two groups of competitors, the 8-12 year-old age group and 13-year-old and up age group.

"You can have two to three generations competing in the same class, husbands and wives competing against each other," Klapp said. "It’s a real family atmosphere. It’s one of the fastest-growing sports, especially for families," he said.

The kids have a great time competing, according to Klapp. "It’s a real kick to go out there and see a pint-sized little kid hauling down the track," he said.

The pulls are run just like the regular tractor pulls, with a weight transfer sled that adds weight as it is pulled down the track, up to about 6,000 pounds. Whoever pulls the most weight the longest distance wins.

The club competes and performs exhibition pulls at local county fairs, firemen’s carnivals and regular tractor pulls. They have competed from Rochester to Lake Erie into southern New York state. One group of competitors came all the way up from Georgia last year.

"Our foremost concern is safety," Klapp said, both for the competitors and the spectators. The tractors must have protective shielding and drivers must wear fire suits and helmets.

Not only are these not your average ride-ons (no, you cannot mow your lawn with one of these tractors), you won’t see your perfection-crazed next door neighbor who zooms around the backyard at 7 a.m. every Saturday morning out there either.

Only members of the club may compete, and driver training and skill are a major part of how the tractor performs. Like many fringe sports, Klapp said it is easy to get more and more involved, and some people spend lots of money on their machines. "You can really get into this," he said.