SUBLETTE – Albert Borell isn’t going to be at the Sublette Farm Toy & Antique Tractor Show in its entirety on Saturday and Sunday.

However, he and Borell Farms LTD will be represented non-stop at the show by a piece of equipment that has been part of Borell’s life, almost from the beginning.

It just happens to be the featured tractor of this year’s show since it’s celebrating its 60^th anniversary, the John Deere 4020.

“I have the first John Deere 4020 unloaded in Mendota. It came in late August 1963,” said Borell, 84, a lifelong farmer. “We still use it. We don’t do a lot of field work with it. I’m in the cattle business, so we use it to haul silage and hay. It’s still being used. It has over 25,000 hours on it.”

Borell Farms, located halfway between Lee Center and Shaw Station with an Amboy address, doesn’t actually house the 4020.

Instead, it is stored in the shed it was originally brought home to in 1963.

The memories don’t stop there for Borell.

“It’s been to the toy and tractor show numerous times. We bought the 4020 the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The only reason I’ll never forget when we bought it is because of what happened that day,” Borell said. “The tractor will never be sold as long as I’m alive. I’ve also told my family I’d hunt the ones who inherit it and sell it from the grave. My grandson, Brian, is going to inherit it and he’s not going to sell.”

Borell owns four 4020s but all of them can’t come to the show at the same time because they’re used to feed the farm’s cattle.

However, the collector has many antiques and plans to entertain the crowd with his selections.