Well, like all other organisations, we have had to cancel all our activities for the time being. It is a shame really, as we had good momentum going on the International truck restoration. We are concerned that we have not yet put any preservative treatment on the wooden part of the wheels, and as soon as we can, two of us will try and achieve that. One of our members has fabricated a stand so the wheels can be worked on at a reasonable height. It may interest readers to know that the wood in the wheels came from the Amish community in Pennsylvania USA. The timber is all US grown, the spokes being hickory, and the felloes (the outer part) steam bent American ash. So, the provenance of these rebuilt wheels is true to their origins.
While everyone is enduring forced isolation, it is an opportunity to review your community activities. Consider volunteering at Fagan Park – it is one day per week (Tuesdays), times are very flexible, and we offer a variety of activities. We are not all about mechanical things – there are the Netherby Gardens to maintain, the beautiful Homestead to take charge of, and we have a major cataloguing project on hold at the moment, which needs one or two enthusiastic people with an interest in all things old and some computer skills. We would very much like to get this project going. We would also like someone to focus on publicity and promotion – Fagan Park has virtually no visibility in Council publications. So, there are plenty of things to interest new volunteers.
A little Fagan Park history. Back in 1932, Bruce Fagan purchased a brand-new Leyland Cub truck, thought to have been on display at the Royal Easter Show at which Bruce was exhibiting his prize Jersey bulls for which he had become quite famous. Fast forward to around 1980 and the truck was sold at the clearing sale. In the late 1990’s it surfaced in a yard in Canowindra in Central Western NSW, and Council agreed to purchase it and bring it back home. The truck was restored to ‘as new’ condition by the ‘Friends’, and made its debut in 2009, and been the ‘pride of the fleet’ since then.
If you would like to contact us, call Ian 0419 435 475, or Vern 0405 703 413.
