Triple HHH farmer’s collection numbers 29

Ricky Haskins has sown a soft place in his heart for those diesel-smoke belching metal behemoths that have proven to be the best friend a farmer ever had.

In fact, the 59-year-old Lebanon native still operates the first tractor he ever drove, a light gray and orange 1949 8N Ford that belonged to his late uncle, Houston Hancock.

“I was about 10 years old, and I always wanted to drive a tractor. I was at his farm on Horn Springs Road one day, but my uncle didn’t go for that. So my aunt sent him to town to get something so that we could slip out the back door to ride the tractor while he was gone,” reminisced Haskins of the tractor he restored in 1981 after his uncle left it to him.

Dear Ken: There was a blind singer and guitarist named Jose Feliciano who had a big hit with “Light My Fire” in 1968s. Does he still perform?

Yes. Feliciano, 66, who was born José Montserrate Feliciano García in Lares, Puerto Rico, continues to entertain. He moved with his parents and 11 brothers to Spanish Harlem in New York City when he was 5. After receiving a guitar as a gift, the youngster practiced as much as 14 hours a day before taking classical lessons. When he was 17, he dropped out of school and turned professional. The international star also wrote and performs the Christmas classic “Feliz Navidad.”  He and his wife live with their three children in a 275-year-old former tavern-turned-homestead on a river in Fairfield County, Conn. The multi-Grammy winner says of his success, “I used to be a dreamer in school. I never, in all my wildest days, would ever think I’d become kind of a Latin idol to the women in Latin countries or a hero to young kids. I never thought of that. My main interest really was playing music. I was always fascinated by the sound I could get out of things. I’m just, a very lucky person, that God gave me the chance to do what I'm doing.”