Old schoolmates renewed acquaintances at the Briercrest Museum heritage day with a reunion of classes from the 1970s.
Numerous museum visitors could be seen sizing up others, then gazing at their name tags with comments like “I didn't recognize you” or “You sure look good.”
While former classmates talked, had home-made pie in the ice cream parlour, and viewed artifacts in the eight room school converted to a museum with themes in each room, a show and shine was held outside.
Formerly with International Harvester for 42 years, collector Ron Wheeler explained the features of his 1940 W4 McCormick tractor.
It has the original gas intake about three feet from the steering wheel. Many IHC tractors had a gasoline intake raised up several inches, a company-wide retrofit made in 1981.
“Fumes leaked from the (low-placed) intake and started fire,” he said. “One guy was smoking and caught fire. To avoid a class action lawsuit the company offered a new intake for every tractor.”
Tim Chamberlin of Rouleau brought his flashy 1929 eight-cylinder Hupmobile car — just like the one his grandfather bought from the mayor of Milestone.
In the drought and depression of the 1930s, money for gasoline was hard to come by so his grandfather converted the car to a trailer.
“I always wanted one,” said Chamberlin. A friend was travelling to the Barrett-Jackson auto action in Arizona, saw a Hupmobile and mentioned it to him.
“I was going down there so when I went there I thought I’d try and buy it.”
“These are senior citizens' cars,” commented one youngster while viewing with his father.
Inside the museum, the Dusty Old Farmers played old time country music. Local cowboy poet Fred Cockburn presented his poems outlining rural life and wrote a special poem for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
A new museum display honours three fallen soldiers from Briercrest with help from the Fallen Heroes project.
Robert Roy McKibben who died in 1917, aged 20, serving with the 28th Battalion was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
James W. Cockburn, who left the family dairy farm in 1940 to enlist in the army, was killed during the Battle of Normandy in 1944 and awarded the France and Germany Star, War Medal, Canadian Volunteer Medal and 1939-45 Star.
Hilson Mumford Horton died in an accident while serving with the 43 Provost Company, which used Indian brand motorcycles. He received the War Medal and the Canadian Volunteer Medal.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
