In the summer of 2016, the Creston Museum got an offer it couldn’t refuse. A 1947 Maple Leaf flat-deck truck had to be moved from it’s home on 16th Avenue North and would the Museum be interested?
Now museum manager Tammy Bradshaw is on another mission - to raise $5,000 to make restorations so the Canadian-made post-WWII classic can be used in the 2018 Blossom Festival parade.
“If we can come up with that, we will have this wonderful piece of local history rolling (and stopping, too),” she said on Friday. “We have volunteer mechanics lined up and itching to get started, we have the offer of a shop to work in (thank you, Walt Pozniak), we have the lumber (donated by Canfor) to rebuild the deck. All we need now is about $5,000 for parts.”
Maple Leaf trucks were produced by General Motors in Oshawa. They were sold in Canada and also exported to Australia. The truck acquired by the Museum was purchased new by Sid and Osmund Bell for their farms, which included an orchard at the top of 16th Avenue North. It was used primarily to haul boxes of apples to packing sheds in town. The truck was also used to haul grain and livestock from the brothers’ farms on the Creston Flats. A large iron ring was once bolted to the deck so bulls could be tied on and transported to other farms and communities.
Bradshaw said the truck’s door panels still contain the “S.W. Bell, Creston BC” marking. It remained in operation until 1972. The 16th Avenue property was sold in 2016 and Lloyd Bell (Osmund’s son) offered to donate the truck and a 1937 McCormick-Deering tractor, which had also been used to haul boxes of apples.
“We went up to check them out, then chose a day – a very rainy day, as it turns out – in July to drag these wonderful relics out of the bush. That was an adventure!”
(A video of that adventure can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNs8C69P_LA)
“Our volunteer mechanics got the old truck’s engine running again pretty easily,” Bradshaw said. “It is now parked at the Creston Museum, right alongside the main entrance where all our visitors can enjoy it. But we would really like to turn this wonderful vehicle into an ambassador for local history: take her out to parades, community events, and the like; put exhibits on the flat-deck and use her as a mobile display platform – this old Maple Leaf is just too good to leave sitting in one spot! It needs brakes, new tires, a new electrical harness, and definitely some interior work so our volunteer drivers can actually sit on the seat. We’ll also rebuild the deck and seal the exterior to preserve what’s left of the original blue paint.
“With your help, we can get local history back on the road! You can make a donation by cheque or in-person, please contact the Creston Museum by phone at 250-428-9262, by email at crestonmuseum@telus.net, or by mail or in person at 219 Devon Street, Creston BC V0B 1G3. Thank you! We very much appreciate your support!”