Engineuity: Antique pumper truck is Santa’s sled

Engineuity

Antique pumper truck is Santa’s sled

Story by GALEN HOLLEY

An antique fire engine, a jolly Santa, and a county of caring neighbors have made the Pontotoc Christmas Parade the highlight of the community’s year.

“It’s been basically the same thing yea these many years— good people, community spirit, and of course children,” said Fred Hood, who has played Ole St. Nick in the parade for 25 years.

A former administrator of North Mississippi Medical Center Pontotoc, Hood was part of a group that situated Santa his swanky ride, a 1947 LaFrance Pumper fire truck. The engine last saw action more than a quarter of a century ago at the Thaxton Fire Department, and one day Hood noticed it sitting alongside other automotive relics outside Larry Montgomery’s diesel shop.

Members of the facility operations team at North Mississippi Medical Center Pontotoc maintain the antique pumper truck. They include, from left, David Andrews, Anthony Graham, Kenny Pennington, and Derek Bowen. They are pictured with Fred Hood, who has portrayed Santa Claus for 25 years, and director of facility operations Larry Jones.

“The Chamber board approved us using the truck, so I went out with Larry Jones, who’s over facility operations at the hospital, and talked to Larry Montgomery,” said Hood. “Mr. Montgomery was very receptive. He got the truck running and said we could keep it for as long as we needed.”

The old pumper’s new home became the hospital’s storage shed, behind Morrison and Sons’ service station on Oak Grove Dr. There Jones and crew gussied up the old girl, installing a platform for Santa to sit on, as well as stringing lights and making sure she was ship-shape for the parade.

The truck was an instant success.

“The first year was wonderful,” said Hood. “Hospital employees dressed in white Styrofoam snowflake costumes and walked beside the engine. My grandson Preston rode with me. Everybody loved it and the chamber said ya’ll keep on doing it.”

Jones and his men have kept the truck running.

“We perform routine maintenance, like replacing points and plugs, and we get it out and drive it once in a while,” said Jones. “I really enjoy working on it. It runs a little ragged, but it runs.”

Pontotoc Chamber / Main St. Association Director Ellen Russell has been around the parade all her life and said the hospital’s generosity has helped make the parade an area attraction. “The fire truck has added to the ambiance,” Russell said.

“Larry (Jones) and his guys start as early as October getting the truck ready for that yearly trip down Main St.,” said Russell. “The parade has been a special event throughout my lifetime. Through a child’s eyes, it’s just about the most fun you can have. From an adult’s perspective, it’s one of our largest, single-night gatherings throughout the year. Pontotoc County has five annual Christmas parades, Sherman, Thaxton, Ecru, Algoma, and the Pontotoc parade. Not many counties have that. These wonderful parades and the Pontotoc parade in particular is a tradition that the whole community has embraced.”

Dot Hardin was part of the very first Pontotoc Christmas Parade in 1952 and hasn’t missed one since. She and her late husband, Claude, were involved in the planning from right from the start.

“Claude was a Jaycee and I was a Jaycette, and that organization sponsored the first parades,” said Hardin. “J.W. Gray, who owned Gray Lumber Company, was an outstanding businessman in town, and he was one of the first ones who helped get the parade together.”

The Hardins’ daughter, Genie, was a member of the Brownies and marched with her little friends in the first parade, Dot said. Classic and antique cars were also staples of the early Pontotoc Christmas parades. Dot and Claude owned a 1904 REO that they proudly displayed. Pontotoc supported the event from the start, Hardin said.

“Churches and other organizations helped, and everyone made the prettiest crepe paper decorations, and it was a joy to be a part of such a wonderful community celebration,’ said Hardin.

Over the years Hood played Santa on a Christmas train sponsored by the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Al., as well as at the Mall at Barnes Crossing. Portraying Papa Noel has enriched his life.

“Who wouldn’t want to be Santa Claus?” said Hood. His great-grandson, six-year-old Carter, now rides with him. Before climbing up on his fire truck each December, Hood arrives early to the route and walks among those who will be in the parade with him, taking pictures and asking what the little ones want for Christmas.

“When Santa Claus’s eyes meet that little child’s eyes, and he sees me and he knows I see him, it’s wonderful,” said Hood. “It feeds something inside me. It’s worth the pounds you sweat off in that suit. When it comes down to it, the experience does as much for me as for the children. It’s magic.”