Chris Brock
Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
(TNS)
Jul. 26—CHAUMONT — On Sunday, as part of the village’s sesquicentennial celebration, the Chaumont Volunteer Fire Department will display its recently acquired antique fire truck. It was picked up this week, but the meandering road back to the village for the gritty vehicle from the mid-1940s has involved a millionaire who wishes to be anonymous, an “American Pickers” episode, an estranged mother and a restaurant in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
On its Facebook page, the Chaumont Volunteer Fire Department posted that the department was presented with an opportunity to “buy back a 1947 Dodge fire truck that once belonged to the department.” It was found in Wayne County and was picked up on Monday by fire department members and with the help of a trailer loaned by Burrville Power Equipment.
“Chaumont Volunteer Fire Department is celebrating 110 years serving our community,” the department’s Facebook post says. “We hope the community comes out and sees the truck on display at this Sunday’s celebration at the Chaumont Fire Department.”
Keith Casillo is an antique authenticator and hobbyist, raised in Marion, Wayne County. In the nearby hamlet of North Rose, there’s an old barn owned by a friend of his, who is a millionaire. “He wants to be anonymous,” Casillo said Friday in a phone interview. “He just buys things. He lives in St. Thomas and comes back and forth. He’s had this building for years. He’s got projects. He rescues things.”
The fire truck has been in the building for about a decade, sharing space with a couple of airplanes, which are being stored in pieces, along with other items. Casillo said the truck is from 1946, not 1947.
“I’ve always seen the truck, and it has Chaumont Fire Department on it, which is the reason I like it,” Casillo said.
Casillo said he was estranged from his mother, Marianne Bellinger, but he finally met her when he was 14 when Marianne, who he said is now deceased, was living in Chaumont.
“So I’ve always had a soft spot for Chaumont,” he said. “I go fishing up there all the time. If that fire truck would have said anything else on it, I probably wouldn’t have had as much interest. But it said Chaumont, and I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been after it a long time.”
During storage, parts were sought for the truck, which Casillo said has been partially refurbished. “There’s a lot of brand new parts; new alternator and all that stuff.”
Two years ago, Casillo received a call from the millionaire. He had another airplane to put in the barn and space was needed. “It took two years to clean around it, to retrieve it,” Casillo said of the vehicle. “He and his people worked to clean out the barn for a long time. I waited until the day it could come out, keeping in touch.”
Casillo said the wealthy collector knew of his interest in the truck. “I taunted him a long time until he finally figured out that I had the brass to keep going and persisting, he said. “Finally, he said, ‘You know, you deserve to have that sucker.’ He’s that kind of guy. If he sees you are interested and you are putting you’re all-in for something, he’ll back you all the way.”
Casillo purchased the truck and about a month ago, when the fire truck was finally clear of its resting place, away from the barn and at his residence, Casillo said he sent the Chaumont Fire Department a message through the Facebook Messenger app. “It said, ‘Hey guys, I came across this and just want you to know that I have it.'” He said the response was: “Thanks for sharing.”
“I thought that was kind of odd,” Casillo said. “I figured they would have wanted it, that it needed to be back in Chaumont. It’d look funny riding around Marion here with the Chaumont Fire department written on it. There’s no glory in that. It needs to go back.”
Casillo said that his brother recommended listing the truck on an online market, and predicted that people from Chaumont would see it. “I really put it on there just for the attention. Sure enough, within an hour, I had four or five of those guys get ahold of me individually, not even knowing those other persons, (Chaumont) fire department guys, had called me too.”
The truck was sold to the fire department. Casillo declined to list that price. A call to Chaumont Volunteer Fire Department Chief William Lipczynski was not returned.
About a half hour after Casillo’s interview on Friday morning, he texted the Times reporter who interviewed him: “Could you call me back? I have more, very interesting information.”
Casillo said he spoke to the anonymous millionaire who was very excited to learn that the fire truck was headed back to Chaumont. The acquaintance also explained to Casillo how he came across the truck.
In January of 2013, the Jericho Road home of David A. and Frances A. Pietroski was featured on the History Channel program “American Pickers.” The show, at that time, featured Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz as they traveled the country searching for relics that they sell for a profit. “I’ve been collecting since I was 12 years old,” Mr. Pietroski, told the Times shortly before the show aired. His parents, Stanley and Frances A. Pietroski, operated an antiques shop, he added. A phone message left at the Pietroski residence on Friday was not returned before deadline.
Casillo said his millionaire friend saw the episode, saw the fire truck and purchased it. “He said he paid $3,500 for it from that guy who was on ‘Pickers.’ He and a friend went up there, loaded it up and brought it back.”
Casillo said that the original plan for the truck was to have it sent to St. Thomas. “He built a really nice restaurant on the water and he was going to use it out front like an advertisement. He was going to have it shipped to St. Thomas but he just never got around to doing it. It almost went there this year.”
But Casillo said his wealthy acquaintance was happy to hear about the truck’s latest journey. “He’s very excited. He said, ‘You did the right move.’ He’s very happy for it to be back in Chaumont.”
Casillo said he plans to be at Sunday’s events at Chaumont Fire Hall, 11385 State Route 12E. Events begin after the noon parade.
On its Facebook post, the department says donations for the purchase of the truck can be mailed to Chaumont Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 129, Chaumont NY 13622 — memo, “1947 truck.”
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