July 22, 2011 LANESBORO, Minn. —Lanesboro was invaded Wednesday.

The incoming fleet came from as far away as Florida, Colorado and Australia.

The steady putt-putt of engines filled the air as they drove by, some advocating Henry Ford for the country’s next president.

Nearly 250 Model T Fords rolled through Lanesboro, Minnesota on Wednesday as part of the International Model T Ford Club’s 55th annual driving tour.

The convoy drove through Rochester, Red Wing and Mantorville earlier in the week, and will go to Austin and Dodge Center before the weekend. In the past couple of years, the tour has visited South Dakota and Tennessee. Next year, they’ll visit Vermont.

Lanesboro “is perfect,” said Mark Cameron, who put in a bid several years ago to get the driving tour to Rochester. “They understand what people on vacation want to see.”

Arv Fabian, owner of Das Wurst Haus in Lanesboro, showed his support with music, playing a concertina outside his German restaurant as Model T drivers lined up and parked their roadsters.

Other Lanesboro residents snapped photos and picked their favorite Model Ts while drivers stopped for lunch at the community center.

“This takes you back to yesterday,” said Joe Banken, a St. Paul resident who vacations in Lanesboro.

Drivers taking part in the tour parked their collectibles along two blocks of Parkway Avenue, which was closed  Wednesday to all car models manufactured after 1927—with the exception of an occasional confused modern motorist.

Some mingled while others toured Lanesboro’s downtown shops.

At one point Vern Campbell of Milan, Mich., wrung a hand towel over his car’s hood, an attempt to cool its antique radiator. Campbell bought his Model T in 1950. It is the first car he ever owned.

Once all the antique roadsters were in place, an aerial photo was taken, recreating a similar photo of Lanesboro from the early 1900s.

“It’s all about historic Lanesboro,” said Julie Charlebois. “It’s bringing us back in time.”

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