Some of my most vivid memories of attending the first and second grade at the old Fayetteville Elementary School on Glynn Street were the days heating oil was delivered to the school.
The oil arrived on a giant tank mounted on a green 1960 Ford F600 that belonged to the Redwine family that operated several major businesses in town including the oil company.
The man driving the truck would park in the front yard, on the southwest corner of the old brick building. He’d hook a hose from the truck to the underground storage tank then set the truck’s throttle so the engine would speed up and power the pump. He’d stand by until the tank was full.
If the fuel delivery came during recess, I’d try to slip around the building from the playground in the back for a closer look. In the first grade, I could watch out the window from Mrs. Wilma Nipper’s classroom.
The old, 1960 Ford F600 with so many fond memories will always be a part of this farm.
I thought that was the coolest truck I’d ever seen.
Fast forward several years and my next memories of that truck were when my cousin Charles Harp purchased it for use as a farm truck. The fuel tank was gone, replaced by plywood sides for hauling soybeans. He had some extensions made from 1X6 oak boards that could be slipped over the grain body, extending the height so it could be used to haul cattle.
Lots of Charles’ family used the truck. I remember one trip to the stockyard in Jackson with William “Big Bill” Harp.
There were several of us in the cab with him. I’m not sure exactly who was along for that trip, but it was more than likely a combination of Mickey Harp, my brother Rob and Ricky Harp. It might have been all of us; I can’t recall for sure.
The Harps, like a lot of local cattlemen, always packed in a tight load of calves, and this day was no exception. When we went to cross Highway 19-41, I was riding on the far right and Bill asked me if there was any traffic coming from the south. I said there was. He took a second look, decided he could make it, gunned the engine and away we went.
Then, as we were headed down the back road to Jackson, we came upon a young woman wearing a bathing suit and mowing the lawn with a rear-engine Snapper Comet.
The house was on the left side of the road, in a curve (I can show you exactly where it was.) We all were checking her out, especially Bill.
Just as we rounded the curve, a distracted Bill let the right front tire slip off the right side of the pavement. He quickly corrected and got us and the calves back on the road and safely to the sale barn, but I never pass that way that I don’t recall that incident.
Eventually Charles’ dad, John Burch Harp Sr., bought a more modern one-ton cow hauler, and I was able to purchase the 60 Ford for $500.
The first thing I did was swap the old, worn Y-block engine for a rebuilt one from Fred Jones. Tom Rush, who ran Fayette Parts at the time, sold it to me on credit, a favor I’ve never forgotten and didn’t appreciate at the time as much as I do now.
For years, we used it regularly when we had a big load of turnip greens and collards to haul to the Farmers Market in Forest Park.
Some of our biggest loads were often on Saturday nights, and we’d leave the market with some really nice checks.
Joanne usually went along to the market, and if it wasn’t too late when we got unloaded,
The dash’s writing is still vivid, as you can see here.
we’d drive over to some nice restaurant around the airport and reward ourselves with a big meal.
She’d usually drive home, with a little assistance from me. (She never has learned how to make good use of the right mirror, and you have to hold the shifter in reverse when you’re backing up, which is literally too much of a stretch for her.)
For many an Inman Farm Heritage Days show, we used that truck to water the roads in the show field when they got dusty, but now the truck is pretty much retired.
Lots of times when I pass by it, I open the door and look on the dash, at a hand-painted note next to where the fuel gauge was mounted when that truck was hauling fuel to the elementary school more than 60 years ago. It says: “In left meter” and “Out right meter.”
Seeing that makes me smile. I still love that truck as much as I did when I was six years old. Maybe writing this blog will motivate me to get it back on the road again.