The volunteers at the Western Development Museum in North Battleford finished work on the antique tractors they were repairing. They are ready to move out, but they did a have a problem with one tractor. It will be repaired at a later date when they can get the parts needed.
The volunteers have now taken on restoration of a huge, 20-horsepower Fairbanks Morse gas stationary engine. These antique engines were first built in 1903-04 and used by the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Fort Gibbons, now known as Tanana, Alaska. As the years passed a more modern system was used and the engines were phased out. They were used in pairs to run generators to power wireless telegraph transmitters.
The engines sat in an area that was going to be cleared for construction of a schoolhouse. They were mounted on cement pads in a two-storey wooding building that had been burned in the early 1950s. Plans were made to preserve and restore the engines.
Engines went to various museums with the Western Development Museum getting one of the them. There are missing parts that can no longer be bought, so the volunteers use their special skills to create parts using lathe and metal press. They are in the process of cleaning up the relic.
Lights of Joy was held in Battleford Nov. 23 with a community gathering in the Historic Lions Park downtown. They had a good turnout. The event was spearheaded by the Battleford Community Spirit Group and Discovery Co-op. Other Battleford businesses also supported the campaign.
A big thank you to Avery Donahue and her grandmother Judy Pruden for starting the light-up-the-trees project. Fred Gardiner, a longtime electrician, was called up to flip the switch to light up the trees.
It was a good beginning to the Christmas season.
