Trucking on at the parade

Courtesy photo From left, Zachary Deacon, Courtney Maudlin and Peter Maudlin jump in the 1928 truck, which is made to look like a septic tank, before MantonŐs 2005 Labor Day parade.

MANTON — For more than 30 years, Jack Johnson of Manton had his eyes on a rusty vintage truck.

While the 1928 Model A Ford Truck sat stationary in a friend’s field for more than three decades, Johnson had big plans for the truck.

Johnson purchased the truck in 1991 for $250 and put in a couple hours of work “to get it moving.”

The truck made its debut in the Manton Area Harvest Festival parade in the early 1990s, and it has since been a staple at the Manton Area Harvest Festival parade.

“I thought it’d be a neat old thing to get running,” said Johnson, who has a fascination with antiques. “When we got it (the truck), it hadn’t run for around 40 years.”

While the truck was “in real bad shape,” it didn’t take much mechanical work or time for Johnson to get it moving.

“We cleaned it up and put some spark plugs on, and in a few hours it was running,” Johnson said. “It didn’t take us very long — we started on it about noon one day and had it running that afternoon.”

At face value, most people wouldn’t believe the truck could run, but with Johnson’s help it keeps trucking.

“It’s all rusted out; it doesn’t even have a hood on it, the doors are flapping, for years cattle were rubbing on it and the cab seat was gone — but it runs and everybody likes it,” Johnson said.

While the truck has participated in the parade for about 16 years, Johnson’s wife, Nancy, annually questions whether the truck will make it another year.

“Every year I wonder if this is the year we tow it with the sign (that says), ‘Looking for a Newer Truck. This one bit the dust,’” she said. “But Jack says, ‘Have faith — it will always run!’ ”

The Johnson’s dress up the truck in different themes each year for the parade. This year the truck will look like a septic tank, which reflects Johnson’s business: Johnson Septic Tank Service.

To sum up the truck, Johnson simply says, “You’ve got to see it to believe it.”

So, to see the truck in its rusty flesh, come out to the Manton Area Harvest Festival Labor Day parade on Monday at 10 a.m.

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