Ely
Founded by couple Ruth and Doug Driscoll in the early 1990s, CRACK, as it’s known, celebrated its 25th annual summer gathering on Saturday.
Ancient engines, a blacksmithing workshop and tools and trinkets galore highlighted the setting in the Driscolls’ spacious yard on Route 5, behind a home that once housed the Ely Store, shuttered in 1972, and the South Fairlee Post Office, which operated from 1872-1938.
That floor space, on the first floor of the home closest the yard, now houses a museum of seemingly endless array of collectibles belonging to Ruth Driscoll. It’s filled with classic kaleidoscopes, toy fire trucks, novelty salt and pepper shakers and much more.
It was Doug Driscoll — who died in 2007 — that did most of the recruiting for a CRACK membership base that swelled to 160 in 2001. Today it’s about half that, and many of the existing members are wary of the club’s future.
While some blame the digital age, Ruth Driscoll feels like today’s economy also plays a role.
Those interested in antique internal combustion engines could easily spend thousands returning them to form.
“A lot of people just don’t have the money to get started,” she said. “This stuff is fun, but it isn’t necessary. With more families than over working two jobs, when you have a few extra bucks, you’d rather spend it on something your family needs, than spend it on a hobby. When we started this club, we wanted it to be for families, but some people are aging out and there’s not many coming up from the younger generations.”
Those who remain involved share plenty of enthusiasm. Faces of all ages lit up on Saturday viewing items such as a classic cement mixer and an old cow milker owned by Glenn Fuller, a well pump dating to 1898 displayed by Danny Greeno, and David Newhall’s 1924, 40-horsepower engine behemoth in the front of the yard that once helped pressurize oil fields in Pennsylvania. Newhall says it weighs 15,800 pounds.
No matter the size, all internal combustion engines share the same basics, each running on the fundamentals of intake, compression, ignition and exhaust. Kenny Driscoll, Ruth’s son, said understanding these basics is important knowledge.
“The historical value is part of it, but also just traditional skills and mechanical skills,” said Kenny Driscoll, 37. “When an engine used to need a repair, you had to listen to it and figure out what was wrong by the sound, the feel of it, looking underneath. You could tell that this or that was wrong with it because you could see the pistons pumping and knew the basics of how it was set up. Today, with cars, you plug them into a computer and it tells you what’s wrong with it. That’s convenient, but where do the skills go?”
Kenny Driscoll laments the lack of new CRACK members, but 9-year-old Zach Perry, of Orford, inspires him. The son of Driscoll’s friend, Shaye Perry, Zach carted himself Saturday on a 1964 Massey Ferguson riding lawnmower and, better yet, was eager to talk about its components, from the yellow machine’s iron hood to its five-horsepower engine.
“Ever since he was old enough to walk, he’s been out in the shop with me,” Shaye Perry said. “He knows more about tractors than I do.”
Some of Saturday’s exhibitors, such as Newhall, are founding CRACK members who have attended all quarter-century’s worth of the Driscolls’ summer gatherings. Others discovered the club more recently and set up displays for the first time. Danbury, N.H., resident Gary Chaffee was part of the latter, showcasing his collection of vintage mini bikes, or small motorcycles, near the rear of the field.
“Mini bikes were a huge craze from about 1966-1977,” said Chaffee, 60, whose models included those made by Honda and Rupp. “They were designed for 12- to 15-year-olds and pretty much everybody that age wanted one.”
As for the value of all this old stuff, it naturally depends on the product. Like most markets, the more rare, the higher the value — assuming the interest is there. Trends fluctuate with generational shifts, too.
“(Ford) Model A and Model T engines used to be really popular and pricey, because you had a generation that grew up with them and had gotten older, and everyone wants to relive their youth,” said John Fleury, of Franklin, N.H., who had a number of working engines on display. “Ford made so many of them, there was a glut in the market, and now that generation is gone and (those engines) are much cheaper.”
While there were some vendors with items for sale, most considered their items priceless. Randolph resident Gary Howe, 74, proudly displayed a two-horsepower engine with an American-made motor that he can trace all the way back to his childhood on a farm in Tunbridge. “When I was 5 years old, and too young to do anything else, I used to go out on the farm and watch my grandfather and uncle use this to power a grindstone to sharpen tools,” Howe said. “I loved watching the engine. It took me 70 years to get it, but it’s mine now.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.