Joanne Williams
Editor

(Joanne Williams/FAN – As reliable as his tractors, Myrl Hawley will be participating for the 49th time in Eaton Rapids Independence Day Celebration. Hawley is 89 and a farmer by trade.)

There may be no finer example of a proud American than Myrl  Hawley, who lives just outside Eaton Rapids in Onondaga.

Hawley, 89, will be riding his John Deere tractor for the 49th time in the annual Eaton Rapids Independence Day celebration, Saturday, July 4, at 11 a.m. He’ll be the gentleman with the smile and a sign on his tractor to mark his years. In the past, he has been accompanied by his four children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He has also ridden in Charlotte’s Frontier Days Parade.

Normally, Hawley rises at 6 a.m. and goes about his farming chores and on his way to T&D Coney Island for a morning coffee with about eight to 10 other farmers. That’s just part of his life. When you ask him questions, he gives you the information, without boasting, and then sprinkles in some other gems, and a few stories and jokes as well.

His car is full of tools, just in case, he says. Hawley, can fix just about anything, especially things on wheels. The tools, by the way, are neatly arranged in the plastic shelf spaces of an old refrigerator door. Farmers know how to put everything to good use.

He and his late wife, Maida, who died in 2021 during their 65th year of marriage, were great Michigan State University Women’s Basketball fans. They only missed 16 games in 36 years, he said.

Once they even planned to see the team play in California, at the end of their own Hawaii vacation. The MSU team traveled to Hawaii the following season, and the Hawleys were with them then, too.

Oh, and then there are the marathons Myrl, a track star in high school, has run, including the Boston Marathon. He stopped running in 1997, when he was 60 years old.

The farming has been life-long, in addition to work with Oldsmobile for about 30 years. He lives on the farm where his mother was born, a centennial farm where wheat, beans, corn and more have been grown as Hawley continues to foster about 125 fertile acres. At one time, he oversaw about 1,900 acres.

And then, there are the tractors. John Deere since he can remember and always will be, in addition to his 137 peddle tractors. He recently acquired number 137 from a family just outside of Eaton Rapids. They recognized him as the tractor man in the parade – “You the guy,” they said.

People say that to him at T&D restaurant, too, including the owner, Gus, who swings by to chat with his regulars.

Waitress Nikita knows to pour Hawley’s regular half cup of coffee – hot and black. “He’s a sweetie,” she said. 

As a farmer, Hawley has stayed active in championing family farms, including riding tractors in parades and rallies, one in Washington, D.C. It took him seven days to get there, by tractor.

Folks know where to find him the Saturday after Labor Day. He leads a parade of tractors from Eaton Rapids, sometimes two, sometimes 20, to the Mackinaw Bridge – it takes three days and then they join other tractors and cross the bridge together.

He has the whole route mapped out – the hotels, the places to stop for meals. A tractor runs all day on a tank of gas, Hawley said, but he needs three meals. He has seen prices rise over the years and meets people who remember and look forward to seeing the back-roads caravan. 

As he leaves the diner, he shows off his peddle tractor, from the 1960s or so, Hawley said. He’s gone through four sets of tires.

He easily lifts the metal tractor into the back of his car and then shares some more parade photos from his cell phone.

“See you Saturday,” Hawley says, counting down the journey to next year’s 50th parade appearance at 90 years-of-age. Hawley indeed runs like a Deere.