Anyone who has lived in the Jamestown area for very long and had the pleasure of attending its annual Christmas Parade will understand that half the enjoyment is seeing so many people you know in the parade and so many you know standing with you to watch it. This year’s parade on Dec. 5 at 3 p.m. should be no exception. It is especially anticipated because last year the parade had to be cancelled due to Covid.
The parade is sponsored by the Jamestown Rotary Club and co-sponsored by the Mary Perry Ragsdale Family YMCA and Jamestown Business Association.
Stephen Thomas, Bruce Dillon and Art Wise, left to right, volunteered countless hours to restore the original fire truck used by the first Jamestown Fire Department.
“We have a very diverse group of entries this year,” said Rotarian Cliff Paddock, parade chair. “Included will be marching bands, a horse-drawn wagon, classic cars, dance teams, a variety of floats, a band from the Shriners, a Tae Kwan Do group and several local leaders and dignitaries.”
Of special interest to many, however, will be the first official appearance of Jamestown’s original fire truck, driven by town employee Jonathan Knight, accompanied by Stephen Thomas, chief fire marshal of the Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department.
Jamestown purchased the 1928 American LaFrance pumper fire truck from the city of High Point in 1948 to use in its first fire department. The truck, which was retired as a working engine in 1968, was sold to Willard Moore, founder of Yesteryear in Motion, and became part of his collection of old mechanical objects. It was later sold to John Jenkins, a Greensboro businessman, and then to Joe Smith, a former employee of Jenkins.
When Smith decided to liquidate his collection of fire equipment memorabilia, he offered to sell the old engine to the Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department.
“The fire department decided it could not buy it,” Thomas said. “I talked to Jamestown about purchasing the engine since it played a big part in the town’s history.”
Thomas, chief fire marshal of the Pinecroft-Sedgefield Fire Department, will be riding on Jamestown’s first fire truck during the upcoming Christmas parade on Dec. 5.
The Town Council approved the acquisition in February 2017. In June of that year the engine came full circle back to Jamestown where it has been restored by Thomas, Bruce Dillon and Art Wise.
Working within a budget for parts, Dillon, Wise and Thomas volunteered countless hours returning the old engine to the look of its glory days.
Although the men, along with some volunteer assistance from Knight, donated their time to the project, some work on the old engine had to be outsourced. A company in Archdale painted the truck and another one in Tennessee refinished the chrome pieces.
“We had to have some parts especially made for the engine,” Wise noted.
“We managed to come in slightly under budget,” Dillon said.
Now that the engine is finished and mobile, it will live at the Jamestown Fire Station, Pinecroft-Sedgefield Station 46, and be used in parades and for special occasions. On Nov. 30, it was included in a traditional “push-in” ceremony along with the newest fire truck purchased for the Jamestown station. When a new truck is placed in service, it is pushed into the bay for the first time, a tradition that dates back over 100 years to a time before fire trucks were motorized.
Although the original Jamestown fire truck may be one of the newest additions to the longtime Christmas parade, the traditional entries, colorful decorations and excitement of the season is sure to put smiles on the faces of those who attend this special event.
