Four contestants of the 2020 JB Dewar Tractor Restoration Education Program have been selected to compete by Delo in their national Tractor Restoration Competition, which will be held virtually this year with the awards announced on Thursday, October 29th. This year’s finalists include Elyse Evers and Annika Ernstrom (San Luis Obispo), Josh Jorgensen (Atascadero), Annika Jensen (Santa Margarita) and Casey Havemann (Atascadero). These SLO County finalists are the only competitors representing California in this country-wide competition. Community members are encouraged to cast their votes through October 24 for fan favorite video.
“This year, many students faced unique adversities that challenged both their mechanical and restoration skills,”said JB Dewar President Ken Dewar. “We’ve been incredibly humbled and impressed by their work and are thrilled to have these five individuals represent both the Central Coast on the national stage.”
“This is record-breaking for our Tractor Restoration Education Program,” added Rachel Dewar, JB Dewar’s TREP Coordinator. “This is the largest number of students we’ve ever had selected to be in the country’s top 12, not to mention the only students chosen from California. We couldn’t be prouder!”
JB Dewar is now in its 20th year of the Tractor Restoration Program. In that time, more than 129 high school-aged students have participated in the program, restoring more than 93tractors, and earning more than $110,000in cash rewards. The dollars earned from the competition have gone toward college funds, vocational education and of course, tractor parts.
Each competitor puts in over 350 hours of labor into their restoration projects. The physical restoration is only one aspect of the program. The competition is judged on three key components: the restoration, an oral presentation, and a written logbook of their restoration journey. The goal is to provide a learning opportunity that will serve kids well no matter where their futures may take them.
The national Delo Tractor Restoration Program awards ceremony will be live streamed via Facebook on Thursday, October 29th. For more information on the event, click here.
To vote for the Central Coast participants and watch their videos, head to: www.delotrcvoting.com
About JB Dewar
JB Dewar is the premier Central Coast-based provider of fuel and automotive products for the agriculture, farming, trucking, construction, energy, and repair shop industries. Since 1933, the company has delivered the finest quality petroleum industry products with family-run service. JB Dewar also performs equipment installation, repair and inspection, equipment/exchange upgrades, fuel/lube transfers and more. For more information, visit one of its eight Pacific Pride fueling cardlock locations in Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Santa Maria and Lompoc or go to jbdewar.com.