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David Denny Around and About February 2007

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All text and pictures by David Denny. Thanksgiving Day 2006 And onward. We had three --- count 'em 3 visitors on Thanksgiving Day! Also three members. Three non-member dog walkers and two or three live-on caretakers. However, two compassionate friends stopped by; arriving at separate times in the late afternoon, bringing care packages of turkey dinners with fix-ns for me. Thank you both very much. With what you brought I had a better Thanksgiving dinner than I had expected! I put my own slice of ham in the refrigerator and made breakfast meat out of it.

Friday was a different story! We had visitors all over the place! I took four separate groups through, and met others while giving my tours. Telling them "if they have questions, and see me around, don't hesitate to stop me and ask them". Some did. Saturday was a 'high activity' day also! I have never seen so much non-showtime goings on here. Again, I spent all day giving tours, meeting one group as I finished taking another through. I don't suppose I was over worked although my voice was coming out sort of 'scratchy' by Four PM! The blacksmiths were pounding & bending things Saturday, so I could direct groups that way, while I talked to others. WE NEED more days like this.

Dan Jaques has been trying to get Lee Dyal's Samson truck to run right for some time, and he finally seems to have hit on the right thing. Rusty junk in the fuel tank. I saw and heard it humming along just fine, again. Dan used it to deliver a bride to the altar in a wedding ceremony held here on the grounds Saturday. Reception was held in our Assembly building. The more 'outside' activity like this we have here, the better publicity we have, and more positive local recognition for the Museum.

Sunday morning and I am sitting here drinking coffee, looking for something to write about. Let's see what today brings! Today appeared to be much slower, or else I wasn't looking too hard for visitors, today. The week has passed with not much to show for it. Work is continuing on the Weavers building. Inside and out. Here it is Friday, the first weekend of an even month and it is Bob Morley's work weekend. The calls for helpers for the work weekend has been put out by Sharon Martin, and let's see if she gets any response. She did get a few positive answers. I have not taken names of responders on purpose. Others will do this, and so I will just write about the accomplishments of this work weekend. They got a lot of jobs done this time. Covers taken down from the BBQ cooking area, washed, dried, and folded until next year.

Dar Jewell, left, and Rudy Dremely clean and take down sun shades.

The eating area, also. The big brush pile behind the sorghum field was tackled, filling the roll-off trash bin with stumps and limbs, on down to twigs. Another bin or two of brush remain. We have been dumping brush there for 25 years or so. The Park Ranger says "cease and desist, and remove all that is there"! We have to pay about $40 per ton to have it hauled off, but it must be done. Needless to say we must not have any more brush dumped there.

That is Bob Morley on the tractor, Rudy Dremely back to camera, Richard Green facing camera behind tractor, I do not know who that is on the far left.

The work group moved the steam team's woodpiles, and some tractors, also some gas engines and cleaned up the ditch area. Ernie Walker then took 'his' road grader and cut a better water path to channel rain run-off (if we get any) from the hill to the ditch, hopefully keeping water away from between the buildings and not inundate the Museum building again!

Bob Morley on the lift truck, Rudy Dremely on the loader, Cecil Morton back to camera.

On the hill are the steel bins where we collect and segregate aluminum cans, clear glass, brown glass, green glass, plastic of various types, and steel. The bins are put on a trailer and taken to a recycler and the Museum gets a fair amount of $. These bins were donated to the Museum, and the former owners wanted them repainted in some other color, and the former owner's name removed! This was done by our favorite painting crew and helpers.

Barb, left, and Bud Watson stencil recycling bins.

The fronts of some bins and all sides of others are now Ferguson tractor gray, with AGSEM stenciled in red on the front. They would have painted all sides of all bins, but they ran out of paint. More paint later on. Excellent job guys. What else? The water pipe line into the Weavers building has a shut off valve about 2 feet under ground. A couple of helpers put a large plastic pipe down to the valve handle, and covered the main pipe with sand. They installed an access box and lid. This will allow shutting off water to the building, while protecting the pipe and fittings from damage. Peter Hansen, teacher for the Guajome Academy needed more room, so the sewing and upholstery portion of the little school area was emptied and the contents were placed in storage, temporarily.

A big pile of junk tires were cut up -- pictured above, and made ready for the trash removal. Including a large number of them still mounted on wheels. The Museum's tire break-down machine and a lot of human sweat was put into accomplishing this chore. The wheels have been put in the scrap metal pile for disposal. Needless to say we do not need the donation of any more junk tires and wheels!

I know there were other things accomplished that I missed, but you get the general idea, they were busy, and did a fine job on the Bob Morley Work Weekend! Let's do it again next time. The week goes by, not much happening here, that is nothing much out of the ordinary. Just keep plugging along, not so many visitors. A couple from Oregon who had been to the Brooks Oregon show last year, and just had the 'bug' to get an old tractor. Unknown as to what kind they had in mind, just old. I wouldn't give them one, so they were just happy to wander around 'till dark, fondling Farmalls and John Deeres longingly.

Virgil and Sharon White were in, Virgil moving things around, straightening his collection of 'stuff' and making it more presentable. Also he picked up his Ford Jubilee tractor and took it home to use grading the back yard where his new garage is to be. While here he emptied the fire 'pit' so we can have a clean start for winter meet campfires.

Gary Jondel was in one day. He was half owner of an 'A' John Deere with Kenny Dutenhoffer. He bought Kenny's half and loaded it and his old tank sprayer on rubber tires onto his big trailer to take home with him. Kenny and Bill Cue were here to help, and give him lots of 'good' advice as how it should be loaded.

Into our lives some rain must fall, but not much so far! Just a little over one inch and we need lots more. Ernie Walker, ably assisted by Guy Horton has been working on the ditch right below trailer row. They have lined some of it with corrugated sheet steel, in an effort towards directing run-off water down hill and into a pipe thereby causing no erosion. In the same theme in the 'railroad circle' Jack Fraser was digging around the gas pump display, shoveling pure sand from around the display gas pump islands. Wondering "why the hill to the south of us was still there due to the sand that washes down to us each rainy season"? We shall see what happens when the excavation for the new homes starts in on the area to our south. As that gets paved, where will the remaining sand go?

Left to right, Trustee Treasurer Paul Schmitt, Secretary Jack Lester. Our Director Rod Groenewold, Trustee President Tom Garrison, Trustee Vice President Bob Morley in profile, Trustee MacMcKenzie, Trustee Jeanette Stevens.

The 3rd weekend is board of Trustees meeting - pictured above. This will be the last meeting for some of the board members. Some can not run again, due to our by-laws and term limits. One does not choose to run again. Maybe fresh bodies on the board will be a good thing, I don't know. After the meeting, Bob Morley was going home, but a broken waterline in the railroad circle had to be fixed. This ground swells and contracts as it gets damp and dries. It can literally pull a joint apart. I guess that is what happened. Christmas vacation is coming on rapidly. School is out for 'Winter Break' (Political correctness forbids the use of the "C" word.) and we have our driveway to ourselves.

Virgil and Sharon White are in, bringing a trailer mounted arc welder – pictured above -- for Pat Makin, to be picked up when the gang is over for the January Meeting. Virgil and Sharon then hooked on to their 'big' 5th wheel and take it to Arizona for a while. Maybe they will go on to Missouri to see Virgil's Mother, depending on whether or not the big Denver blizzard moves on south and east to hinder travel.

Jake Williams is conducting a Steamer firing and engineers school for two future operators. Travis Durst and Eric McConnon fired up the 1902 Advance traction engine, and under the watchful eye of Jake, drove the engine to the empty (and level) campgrounds for an afternoon of running the engine. Going Forward, backing, stopping, emergency stops, simulated panic stops, filling the boiler, keeping the fire properly under control, and being easy on a 104 year old machine in the process.

Another few operating sessions and they will be ready for final driving test. In the process of being qualified is a 'book learning' test requirement, also. Then they will be qualified to drive one during show time, in the parade of tractors. We do not want any mishaps. We can not afford any mishaps! Safety First. Christmas Day. One of the two days each year the Museum does not open the doors. Oh, there are other days we may not be very energetic about opening. If it's raining cats & dogs wind blowing a gale or other acts of nature, we can get sluggish about opening, but Christmas day-no! I drove my cart up to Cecil and Connie Morton's place, said Merry Christmas. Saw two coming through from the jungles to the north of the museum. They said "good morning-Merry Christmas". It must have been cold out where they stayed last night. Tuesday, a few visitors.

Work is progressing on everything at a slow pace. We had another water leak not so serious this time, but it is going to require attention. Not today, though. The wind blows! Hard! Trailer jumps around all day. Wednesday. Thursday Ernie Walker, Keith Richards, and Dar Jewell tackled another water leak, in the driveway by Sally's place. A joint had pulled so the rubber seal in one end of a 'slip' coupling had been loosened by earth movement.

Dar Jewell, left, Patrick Myers and Keith Richards, right,
watching Ernie Walker, back to camera, fixing broken pipe.

They fixed it and bedded it in sand, this time. We did not loose any trees in the wind this time, but palm trees shed fronds over everything. Xx#$%^!*(^^ palm trees! The roof of the concrete block restroom was covered. Dar Jewell stood on the seat of the 'goat' and raked them off, and loaded them in the goat bed. We'll see if they burn in the camp fire in a couple or three weeks. Friday December 29 we had a lot of visitors. One family from central California, Branches 6 and 13 of the national organization, found us on the web and literally went wild. Taking pictures until the digital cameras were full, and the boys went to market and purchased throw-away cameras to finish up. Speaking of running wild, a troop of over energetic Cub Scouts -- pictured below -- and 6 or 8 adults energized the place for a while.

What a bunch of wild hooligans! They were held in check by leaders that were obviously Marines. The place almost boiled over for a while! I think they really had a gooood time. Things calmed down when the boys tired out though! Saturday was just the opposite in attendance. I think there were two groups here all day. Sunday is New Years Eve. How long is it going to take to remember to write 2007 on things? I still have difficulty writing 2000 anything.

I guess I am a twentieth century kind of person. 7:30 AM I need to get going, put my dinner in the slow cooker and do something constructive. Monday, first day of 2007. It is 5:30 AM and I enjoyed the night life of New Years Eve so much I slept through it. I did not watch the ball drop anywhere, so I don't know if there was shooting or not. Tuesday evening, while locking the Museum doors I had a visitor driving a large semi-tractor pulling a lowboy trailer hauling a reasonably new John Deere backhoe-loader.

No he wasn't donating it! he was just going to unload it, to be picked up tomorrow driven out to 'our' wheat field, where they were to excavate soil samples, in preparation of the City of Vista's turning that into a recreation area. I guess the inevitable is coming to pass finally. Thursday January 4, Bill Cue and Roy Volk came in got out tractors, hooked up and greased the grain drill, took a wagon load of seed and prepared to get some seed in the ground, before the next rain. Maybe? They are going to work around the soil samplers, in hopes of getting in one more crop, before it is totally lost to us. From the looks of the sky this morning rain is going to come down by the buckets full. By noon however, it is getting much lighter, almost sunny but, It's cold and windy again.

About .1 inch of rain is the downpour we did not get. We did not get enough to do anything positive. The backhoe digging in the 'outback' has been finished. I don't know what they found, except one told me they found where someone had been living in the wooded area to the north of the wheat field. This is about as a good time as any to remind all that read this column: there will be our usual parts exchange on the third Saturday in February! Come one-come all! Bring lots of 'stuff' and lots of $$! Have a good time. See Ya here.

It is now January 10th and we sure had a reversal of the weather today. The temperature has been several days warm and nice. Yesterday was OK but today was just about as changed as possible! The Museum Weavers building construction gang Patrick Myers, Jim Goode, and Keith Richards poured the bottom section of the north side handicapped ramp today. Bruce Yoho helped, and after finishing with the screed board he said "no more unless that thing has a grease fitting on it"! Lots of work sawing that board back and forth. Hard on the back, too! They wanted to get finished with the concrete work before the next rain shower hits. They did and the showers are supposed to start tomorrow. The shower provider did not turn on the spigot! The wind was provided in abundance, and the cold door was left open, also. January 15, early AM. Still cold.

We had a few tourists through here, Sunday, all bundled up. It is getting close to Winter Meet time, so it probably will rain cats and dogs. I remember some years when it did! Our road was bad and some members got stuck between buildings (2) and Santa Fe Ave. Bob and Chris Phillips came in on their usual wintering away from their home in New York.

Left to right Bob Phillips, Bruce Yoho, Cecil Morton.

Bob Phillips helped Cecil Morton on tractor 'fixin up'. Bruce Yoho, Bob and Cecil spent some time removing steering clutches from a derelict TD-14 International Harvester tractor. Bruce hopes to get one put in a TD-14 that came from our big donation of tractors a couple of years ago! Bob and Cecil worked on the three donated International tractors we received last summer. They all run now. It has been cold Monday and Tuesday a little warmer. While watching about all the snow, hail, and showers in LA county Wednesday, here it was just cool and breezy. At 6 PM I went down to the 'Club' building for a moment, with no jacket on. Chilly, but not as bad as it was the first of the week. They say the storm might come through here tonight, but clear so far, with stars shining brightly through clean air!

Friday The 'BBQ chefs' had Jack Lester's smoker going preparing meat for the Saturday lunch, drawing a crowd around. While there I made a discovery-"it's raining". For about 2 minutes a very fine mist fell. Nothing more than that. Saturday the big day arrives, Tom Garrison calls the well fed meeting to order for the last time, as his term as president is concluded, due to term limits.

The 2007 Board of Trustees will hold first meeting later in the day to appoint the next president from their ranks. The assembled members elected the new members on the board, and also voted to keep term limits in place. The afternoons festivities finished and the members just in for the day departed, after the usual 'gab session' finished up. Pat Mackin, Rich Eckert and Virgil White decided just to take a look at the 4 cylinder Hart-Parr stationary engine. See if it was stuck, see if the magneto was any good, Well--- 3/4th of a day later assisted by Rudy Dremely and Kent Graham, they had removed the magneto to repair it. They tried to turn the engine (it moved a little) opened the back plate, scraped out the case, removed a mouse nest and much other mouse residue, took the cylinder heads off removed many auxiliary pieces diagnosed the problems, removed the cylinders, removed rods and pistons.

Virgil will take some parts to work to clean them. Rich will rebuild the magneto and it will go back together. This is a rare engine in stationary form. There are tractors with this engine (we don't have one) so when fixed up it is going to be a valuable asset to the collection! It is going to need pressure washing and a good paint job, after it is back together and running. Plans are being made for future projects, getting our collection running and ready for display. Let's get a power unit lineup under way, soon. The time to quit this writing and get it to Editor, Greg, it is duty day for me. Thanks, David