Antique fire trucks draw hundreds to town park

TWINS TWICE: These two sets of twins were among the many children who enjoyed the chance to stand on this 1963 antique fire truck during last Sunday’s show inside Johnston War Memorial Park. They are Elizabeth and Abigail Gliottone and Christopher and Emily Gliottone.

Sun Rise photos by Pete Fontaine

MUSIC MARCH: Emily Lisker, front left, leads the Greenwood Fire House Marching Band, which provided music during last Sunday’s antique fire truck show inside Johnston War Memorial Park.

SPECIAL SCULPTOR: Michael Higgins, a noted chainsaw sculptor, carves out the head of a firefighter with a helmet during last Sunday’s special performance in Johnston.

PIECE OF THE PAST: Bill Clark, who lives in Colchester, Conn., stands by his 1935 Maxium pumper that was once part of the fleet at the Lewiston Fire Department in Maine.

Posted Thursday, June 26, 2014 1:58 pm

Pete Fontaine

Johnston War Memorial Park has always been a popular place for a variety of fun-filled events.

Sunday, though, the pristine park, which is always well maintained by the Johnston Recreation Department, took on an entirely new look for an extraordinary event.

So much so, in fact, organizers of the Rhode Island Antique Fire Apparatus Society may just want to consider making the park its permanent home, especially since people driving on Hartford Avenue were drawn in after seeing streams of water being pumped out of the park’s pond.

More than 500 people – and perhaps even as many as 700 – walked around the park to see the more than 50 antique fire trucks that came from all parts of New England, as well as “The Magic Garden,” a roped-off area where chainsaw sculptor Michael Higgins of Tiverton carved things like a firemen’s head and helmet out of tree trunks.

“The show was a huge success,” said Lou Reo, the show’s chairman, whose 1963 Mack C95 Pumper was an oft-visited vehicle by camera-toting admirers. “Great weather, great vintage vehicles, great people walking all around this place.”

As advertised, this year’s show had fire memorabilia, Smokey the Bear and Sparky the Fire Dog. There was also a food stand that people visited quite frequently, especially before heading to the north side of the park to watch antique fire truck owners hook up hoses and participate in the fun-filled master stream pumping.

But there was another unique aspect of the event that people of all ages concurred was a huge hit – even for youngsters.

That came in the form of the Greenwood Fire House Marching Band, a six-member troupe headed by saxophonist Emily Lisker.

Dressed in white shirts, black ties and black pants, the fun-loving musicians pumped all kinds of music into the sun-splashed air much to the delight of show-goers who simply stopped, looked and listened to their music.

“We’re from Seekonk, Mass.,” Lisker said during one of the few short breaks she took from dancing around while playing her saxophone. “When people think of Greenwood, they think we’re from that section of Warwick.”

It was difficult, however, to detect which member of the Greenwood Fire House Marching Band was having the most fun, simply because all the musicians were smiling while playing their instruments.

The traveling troupe included Bill Calhoun on bass drum, Jerry Calhoun on trombone, Steve “Iggy J” Wehnerderc on trumpet, and Gerry Heroux and Jim Viara.

All of the antique fire trucks are privately owned by individuals who have a special affinity for such vehicles.

Perhaps Ryan Elmasian, a lieutenant with the Johnston Fire Department’s Rescue Team, said it best of the many antique fire truck owners who brought their vintage vehicles to Johnston for Sunday’s show.

“I’ll have one of those trucks some day,” said Elmasian, whose fire department brothers recently raised $14,000 for charitable purposes by raffling a motorcycle. “There are some beautiful old-time fire trucks here today.”

For more information about the Rhode Island Antique Fire Apparatus Society or its upcoming schedule, call 241-6913 or email RIAFAS@yahoo.com.