For Audrey McDonald the restoration of Chestermere’s first firetruck was a labour of love.
The Chestermere Historical Foundation unveiled Big Red to the public after nearly six years of painstaking work and countless volunteer hours in a special ceremony on the weekend. McDonald was reluctant to disclose a dollar figure for the project, but it’s safe to say it cost almost as much as a new Cadillac.
Chestermere #1 began life as a 1952 Ford that was modified to be the town’s first firefighting unit. It was purchased by the Chestermere Cabin Owner’s Association in the days before the community was even considered a summer village.
Back then the town had no formal structure, much less a bonafide fire department — volunteer or otherwise. The truck was basically parked in a shed and used when needed. McDonald quips it was probably unlikely to put out a large bonfire much less a three alarm blaze.
The truck was then sold to the historical foundation for a dollar from the estate of long time resident Jack Meier in October of 2011. Meier had purchased it when it was no longer being needed as a fire truck and converted it to a welding truck.
“It was an exciting day to get the truck, but little did we know how much work and money it would take to get it restored,” McDonald said. “We all agreed that we needed to preserve Chestermere’s history.”
Most of the work was done by Zane Southgate of Zeebs Performance, a local business, who donated some of his hours. The final stages of blocking (sanding) in preparation for painting was done by Ken Friesen of Concours Collision who in turn painted it at no charge.
Since the painting it has been stored at the fire hall and McDonald says the firemen have been willingly working on it to get parts assembled and will be helping to get it finished.
McDonald says it couldn’t have been done without the financial and moral support of the community. “We had realtors, home builders, car dealers and businessmen join our $500 club with a $500 donation or more.”
In addition, the Firetruck Committee received a grant from CCRB and Alberta Historical Resource Foundation and the Bank of Nova Scotia. In fact, Scotia Bank matched proceeds from the sale of refreshments anddonations at Saturday’s event.
Restoration isn’t 100% complete, but close. McDonald said it was important to give the community a “status update” and raise the dollars needed for final completion.
But don’t expect Big Red to be putting out any fires soon — “we don’t even put water in the tanks” McDonald laughs Instead it’ll be put to use at community events and parades.
