Sean C. Morgan
The Old Girl has been a silent and inanimate partner to the Sweet Home VFW Post honoring veterans for many decades.
She is older than most of the membership, and the venerable elder is showing her age a bit.
She never had a name. VFW and Auxiliary members just call her the Old Girl, and she’s uniquely identifiable mascot for the Sweet Home VFW post.
She is a 1930 Franklin automobile most often seen near the head of the Sportsman’s Holiday parade, just behind the fire department. She annually joins the Veterans Day Parade in Albany.
She has been part of the post for so long, her early history is at risk of disappearing into the fog of the past. And she has been in more parades than members of the post.
The Franklin has been part of VFW Post 3437 since before 1961, said Marion Fritts, a member of the VFW since 1975. He talked to Roy Howard, another longtime member of the post for more information about the car.
They weren’t able to figure out when the post bought the car, Fritts said. He believed more details are available on paperwork kept in a safety deposit box, but he wasn’t able to access it last week.
“It was purchased from a doctor in Albany,” Fritts said. The story is that part of the deal was that the VFW couldn’t sell the car, although he doesn’t know for certain if that is true.
Since then, it has been in nearly every Sweet Home parade.
“There’s been times it’s been down,” Fritts said. “But we put it in most parades. We used to have the Franklin in the parade right behind the fire truck.”
The firefighters were always worried about the Franklin breaking down, VFW Auxiliary member Rose Marie Allyn said. She chuckled remembering a parade where a new fire engine broke down in front of the Franklin. It had been a running joke between the VFW and fire department for years.
The Old Girls had sone done some traveling over the years.
The Franklin has been to a national convention in Seattle, Fritts said. “It’s been in a number of Albany Veterans Day parades and a number of Brownsville Pioneer Picnic parades.”
It’s been to at least one parade in Jefferson, and it’s been to Pendleton twice. It has been on display at the VFW’s state convention. It has frequently appeared in the Strawberry Festival parade.
Notable veterans, people who have given a lot of themselves to the community and veterans, ride inside the vehicle during the parades, Allyn said. It also includes the post commander and auxiliary commander when they’re available for parades.
“It’s an antique,” Fritts said. “It’s a symbol, I guess, of the post. It’s a conversation piece, no doubt about that.”
It’s always a part of the post’s presence at events, which “is a great way to thank the veterans and remember those who gave everything they have,” Allyn said. “This is a way we’re celebrating these people.”
It’s with the post wherever it goes, Allyn said. People recognize and remember the car. When the car is broken down and not with the post, people ask about it.
“There’s only a few people who drive it,” Fritts said. “It’s kind of hard to drive.”
The gear shifter is odd, with first and second on the left, third on the right and reverse in the middle, Jim Allyn said. “You have three spots to get your gears on, and you dare not miss them.”
Sean Tierce has been the main driver for the past couple of years. Stan Gray has driven it, and Jim Allyn drove it for a dozen years.
“Sometimes, it was a challenge,” Jim Allyn said. “Sometimes, she was really nice. When she decided she didn’t want to go to a place, she just shut down on you. I remember the time that sucker backfired. Blew the dipstick right out of the engine.”
Allyn said he’s driven the car as far as Portland.
“We can do 40 to 45 on a good day,” he said.
“It doesn’t go very fast.” Rose Marie Allyn said, remembering a ride to Pendleton in the car.
“Originally the old car was air-cooled,” Fritts said. “We couldn’t keep it cooled enough to run in the slow parades.”
After that, the post installed a water-cooled system.
The engine is from a 1955 to 1957 pickup.
“The rings were shot,” Fritts said. “It smoked so bad, we had to rebuild it.”
The interior of the car has openings for vases, something common in vehicles of its era. It also has pull-down shades.
“Nobody moves them because we’re afraid they’ll fall apart,” Rose Marie Allyn said.
The wooden floor of the cabin is in dire need of replacement, Fritts said.
“The post has tried to keep her as original as possible,” Rose Marie Allyn said. That was the goal of the late Bill Poitras, who had been the post’s expert on the car and post history.
He had dreamed of putting the car under glass and displayed in front of the Vet’s Club.