CORTLAND — Family traditions once thought lost have found new life again.

For Oland Durst, returning to his childhood home in Trumbull County brought an unexpected discovery — one that served as a reminder of the people and places that have shaped his life from the very beginning.

Oland was born and raised in Cortland. His father, Bob, worked at Packard, was a member of the Ali Baba Grotto, and poured his heart into the land. His mother, Dolores, loved to dance and ran an animal kennel on their property.

Their home became the epicenter of their lives, bustling with their daily activities and the hum of tractors through the fields. After Bob’s death in 1986 and Dolores’s death in 2019, Durst returned to his family’s land to fulfill his mother’s final wish: to spread her ashes in the woods behind the home where she had run her business and raised her family.

As he made his way through the overgrown trees and brush, something familiar caught his eye. Obscured by foliage was a faded blue 1953 Ford tractor, rusted yet recognizable. It was the same tractor his father once drove across those very fields more than 70 years ago.

“It was like seeing a piece of his dad again,” said Durst’s daughter, Jen Kirby, recalling the moment. “It felt like the past was reaching out to meet the present — like time traveling in a way.”

The owner of the property understood what the discovery meant to Durst. When Durst offered to buy the tractor, the man simply told him to keep it, stating that it belonged to his family.

Durst decided there was only one person who could bring the tractor back to life: Don Murphy, a fellow Cortland resident and lifelong friend whom Durst has long referred to as his second father. As a trustee of the Antique Tractor Club of Trumbull County, Murphy has spent many years restoring, preserving and showcasing historic farm equipment across the region.

Restoring the Durst family tractor was different from his usual projects, as it held a distinct kind of history — family history. The restoration was a way to honor a friendship that has lasted a lifetime and bring a beloved family heirloom back to life.

“It felt like I was doing something for my son, I’ve always felt that way.” Murphy, 93, said. Murphy, taking on this meaningful project, poured a year of work and resources into the tractor.

“I put about $600 into it, changed the oil, ignition, and condenser. After that, I greased up and sharpened the blades,” he said.

After careful work, the tractor was once again glistening with a fresh coat of bright blue and grey paint and fitted with a new set of wheels. When Durst’s son, daughter and grandchildren gathered to see it, generations came together around a piece of their shared history.

“The tractor was sort of a bridge between my grandpa, dad and Don,” said Scott Durst, Oland’s son. “Don was certainly the right person to get the tractor. When I first saw the tractor after Don brought it back to life, it was just like how I remembered it, although I hadn’t seen it in over 30 years. Don was really proud. I’m sure my grandpa would have been happy with my dad getting Don the tractor and the work he put into it.”

The tractor has taken on a new life that was once unimaginable. Murphy continues to use the tractor on his own six acres of land, saying it even “works better than his other tractors”. As a member of the Antique Tractor Club, he takes the tractor every year to the spring show in April and the summer show in August. He said the tractor is not only for work, but also for recreation.

“The Tractor Club has an annual tractor ride in the farm country — afterwards, we have a picnic in the fields,” Murphy said.

Today, the blue tractor stands as a symbol of connection between father and son, between a community that became family and between generations to come. The tractor, pushing on over half a century later, represents the strength of family bonds — both blood and not.

Despite many seasons of being forgotten, honoring those who came before and their history has restored the tractor to its full glory. For the Durst family, the hum of the old engine is a reminder that their story, and the love that fuels it, will continue moving forward.