This from Arty Zern:
Gents,
The SFD 1923 Stutz (Engine 2) is finally on the road. This link is to a video of the Stutz on the raod on the Sycamore Fire Preservation Company Facebook page.
Art
From Sycamore Fire Preservation Co. Ltd.:
Sycamore truck # 2 responding to smoke showing at Plank & Lukens. Oh wait, that’s the Sycamore Steam Power Show. Sycamore Fire Department’s 1923 Stutz will be on display there this weekend. Stop by.
Sycamore 1923 Stutz runs again!
This from Art Zern:
The Sycamore 1923 Stutz is running again after years of sitting idle. As was posted last year, the refurb was completed and now it’s running. Here is a link to a video on the Preservation Committee Facebook page.
Art
Excerpts from midweek news.com:
About 150 community members filled the Sycamore fire station Saturday morning to eat pancakes and to take a closer look at the newly restored 1923 Stutz fire engine.
The breakfast was a fundraiser to help find a permanent location to display the engine. Retired Fire Chief Gene Ege, who also is president of the Sycamore Fire Preservation Company, said the group recently completed the bodywork on the truck after it was dormant for several years.
“We formed in 2000 when we first got word that the fire truck was available from a collector to bring back to Sycamore,” Ege said. “It was the first motorized fire engine to pump water in Sycamore. The truck they had before this was a chemical truck – like a fire extinguisher on wheels. This was the first engine that would actually hook to a hydrant and pump water.”
It was in operation from 1923 to 1957.
“In 1966, it was sold at a public auction because they didn’t have room to keep it,” Ege said. “It went through three or four different collectors until 2000.”
A collector in Indiana contacted the city and gave Sycamore the opportunity to buy it
“It still had our name on the hood,” Ege said.
The group raised money and bought the truck in August 2001. Ege said that when 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina hit the country, the restoration efforts for the truck were put on hold.
“Money was needed elsewhere, but then three years ago we started fundraising again,” Ege said.
Ege said the entire cost of the project has been donor funded; no city money has been used. Marty and Sons Body Shop in Sycamore worked on the $25,000 restoration project for a year and a half.
Sycamore History Museum Executive Director Michelle Donahoe said the museum board and the preservation group are in discussions to find a permanent location to display the truck.
“It’s an important piece of Sycamore’s history, so we’re trying to be creative and come up with different ideas to get a permanent home for it,” Donahoe said. “We’re in the early stages, but I think it’s a good fit.”
This from Art Zern:
Gents,
See the attached photos of our 1923 Stutz. Body is complete and our mechanics are starting re-wiring. Looks great thanks to Marty and Sons in Sycamore. One shot is the Stutz with our new Engine 1.
Art
Sycamore FD: 2016 Rosenbauer engine and 1923 Stutz antique. Art Zern photo
Sycamore FD 1923 Stutz antique. Art Zern photo
Art Zern photo
This from Art Zern:
Gents,
Our new Rosenbauer engine and our 1923 Stutz are both nearing completion.
link to the Sycamore Preservation Company for more info on the Stutz:
Best regards,
Art
New Rosenbauer Commander pumper for Sycamore FD. Sycamore FD photo
Sycamore FD photo
Sycamore FD 1923 Stutz pumper being restored. Sycamore Preservation Company photo
Sycamore FD 1923 Stutz pumper being restored. Sycamore Preservation Company photo
Sycamore FD 1923 Stutz pumper being restored. Sycamore Preservation Company photo
Sycamore FD 1923 Stutz pumper being restored. Sycamore Preservation Company photo
The Daily Chronicle has an article about
Former Sycamore firefighter Jerry Taylor still remembers the last time he went on a call with the city’s first motorized engine.
It was July 2, 1952, when Sycamore firefighters received a call that there was a fire at the old East School in Sycamore. The report was a false alarm, but Taylor ran outside to jump aboard the 1923 Stutz fire engine. A pick-up truck that the Sycamore Fire Department used for grass fires accidentally struck Taylor, causing a skull fracture and broken elbow. Those memories came back to Taylor, now 86 years old, Thursday when he saw the fire engine for the first time in decades.
Sycamore Fire Preservation Company, a nonprofit organization headed by Gene Ege, former Sycamore fire chief, is trying to raise $25,000 to restore the 1923 Stutz. So far, they’ve raised half their goal with donations from individuals and businesses.
To make a donation, residents may call Sycamore Assistant Fire Chief Marc Doty at 815-895-4514, Gene Ege at 815-761-8844, the DeKalb County Community Foundation at 815-748-5383 or visit www.dekalbccf.org. Checks can be made out to “Sycamore Fire Preservation Company LTD. Fund.”
Sycamore Fire Preservation Company will hold a bunco dice and dinner fundraiser at 6:15 p.m. Sept. 20 at Sycamore Veterans Memorial Home, 121 California St., Sycamore. Attendees must make a reservation to Kris Morris at 815-762-3050.
The goal is to get the fire engine running again, Ege said. So far, a mechanic has repaired the wooden spokes, and the mechanic still needs to assess the batteries and wiring to see if they can eventually get the vehicle running to use in parades, Ege said.
Although many of the firefighters who responded to fire calls with the 1923 Stutz have since died, Ege said he found four former Sycamore firefighters still alive today when looking at a list of firefighters dating back to the 1910s.
A close look at the fire engine shows the name “Sycamore” faintly on the hood.
thanks Dan
For the finest department portraits and composites contact Tim Olk or Larry Shapiro.
