By Pamela Dillon Contributing Writer Boys never outgrow their love for red firetrucks. That is quite evident when you see the number of males of all ages who attended the 20th Annual Antique Fire Apparatus Show at Veterans Memorial Park in Germantown on Saturday, July 9.
There are 81 current members of the MVAFAA; about 35 of them were showing off their antique firetrucks that day.
Another MVAFAA member, Bob McClain of Germantown, had organized the show the first 19 years with his wife, Rachel. They were at the festival showing off their 1950 GMC/Young mini-pumper, and 1953 Lyman Fire Boat. A 1968 American LaFrance that he and his son, Matt, restored, had been recently sold for $13,000 to a buyer in Massachusetts.
“The LaFrance is the cadillac of firetrucks. I first became interested in antique fire trucks when my son was a volunteer firefighter in Germantown. We bought this firetruck together many years ago as a project,” said McClain, MVAFAA past president and current treasurer. “I also transformed a Lyman boat made in Sandusky into a fireboat by adding a siren light and deck gun.”
They initially bought the LaFrance for $3,500; it needed a lot of new parts and sweat equity to bring it to its current great condition. M. McClain moved up in his firefighting career, eventually working full-time in Dayton for 15 years before being promoted to captain of the second platoon.
“I like working in the big city; we keep busy and average a good-sized fire a day,” said McClain, MVAFAA vice-president who was at the show with his 6-year-old son, Brigham. “I sold the LaFrance because my wife, Trisha, and I just had a new baby girl, Cambri. It’s time for a new adventure.”