Museum’s large farm equipment is gone, but being cared for

With July 4 just around the corner, Route 1 is about to go from annoyingly busy to pull-your-hair-out busy. One of the things visitors taking their once-a-year trip to coastal Delaware might notice is that the two buildings housing the old farm equipment just south of Milford are all but empty.

The equipment was part of Bennett’s Museum, which was started by Fred A. Bennett II in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Bennett died well over a decade ago, but his son, Fred A. Bennett III, had been watching over the decades-old equipment since then.

Fred said he began moving the equipment this past winter, selling some and giving some of it away. He just didn’t have the time to care for it the way it needed, he said, adding the equipment was also exposed to the elements.

“This place was a bird house in the spring. Birds would roost and there would be a mess everywhere. Stuff needed to be cleaned and maintained,” he said. “I like stuff to be done right and it was bugging me, so I found some people who could take care of the equipment the way it needed to be.”

There’s one old combine that remains. Bennett said he doesn’t own it and talks are underway for it to be sold.

In one of the barns on the family farm just up the highway, on the northbound side of Route 1, Fred continues to maintain the family’s collection of old farming tools, Milford-related farming goods, old trucker-style farming hats, old farming toys and hundreds of other pieces. He also has a separate collection of old petroleum pumps and stuff like that in another building.

Most of the big stuff might be gone, but Fred is a fifth-generation farmer – his son Mark is the sixth – so tractors are in his blood.

“I’ve still got one in the shed over there that I put out for Christmas,” he said.

Soft beach sand is an indication of calm weather

This past weekend, as temperatures climbed into the 90s both days, my family and I spent a good chunk of those days at the beach in Dewey. While in the water, I noticed that the sand in the surf’s edge was soft, which is not always the case. Sometimes around here, the debris gathers in the trough that forms where the sand and water meet. This debris field is a good place to find broken shells, small rocks, sticks, reed grass, sea glass and occasionally World War II-era bullet shells after beach replenishment, but it’s not a fun place to come to a stop while riding a boogie board.

That’s not the case right now, and I think it’s an indication of how calm this spring and early summer have been. Any time there’s a nor’easter and the sand along the shoreline takes a hit, the state’s environmental folks always say the sand is out there, not far from the water’s edge, and that given time, the sand will come back. Inevitably, after a few weeks or months, if it’s been calm, a significant portion of the beach does slowly rebuild. Enjoy it while it lasts.

I will say, as nice as coming to a stop in soft sand feels, it’s no fun pack-muling the full beach cart back up to the dune crossing. 

Joke of the Week

I ran into Coastal Point Publisher Susan Lyons and one of her reporters, Mike Smith, at the Delaware Botanic Gardens’ Sip & Saunter. She said she liked my column, but especially the jokes. Then she started laughing and said something along the lines of, “You do all the writing for the other parts of the column, but the only thing people remember are the jokes.” She’s not wrong. It’s pretty much the only thing people consistently comment on – but at least people are commenting. As always, send jokes to cflood@capegazette.com.

Q: What do ducks love about July 4th?

A: Fire quackers.