Restored Chevy Fire Truck Helps Boy Scout Earn His Eagle Badge
Vintage 1956 Chevy fire truck ‘honorably discharged’ 14 years ago was once a parade centerpiece.
The highest rank any member of the Boy Scouts of America can achieve before turning 18 is Eagle Scout. Since the rank was introduced in 1911, over 2 million men have earned the badge, including astronaut Neil Armstrong, U.S. President Gerald Ford, and Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg.
One of the requirements in obtaining the rank is to plan, develop, and lead a service project benefiting the community. Scouting blog Bryan on Scouting has such a project, one led by Scout and Fire Explorer Koren Ernst of Rowlett, Texas, an eastern suburb of Dallas.
The project was the restoration of a 1956 Chevy truck “honorably discharged” from service in the Rowlett Fire Department. The truck, dubbed “the General,” was the first truck ever purchased by the department, and would see a second life as a parade and ceremony centerpiece until it was parked behind Rowlett Fire Station No. 1 around 14 years before Ernst noticed the truck.
Ernst originally planned for a full restoration of “the General,” but after realizing how much work it would take to complete, the project’s scope was changed to focus on an external restoration of the Chevy, with the aim the community would take on the mechanical restoration later on. Ernst raised $2,800 with the help of GoFundMe and individual donations, while local paint and body shops donated supplies and skills. Then, with around 20 volunteers to help, Ernst and his crew spent 900 hours and 13 months working on the restoration.
Most of the work was done under a tent Ernst purchased so the elements wouldn’t delay the project. Six electric sanders and lots of sandpaper were sacrificed prior to the primer application, while the body shop finished the job of painting the Chevy. Ernst and his crew then took the truck back for reassembly, graphics application, and polish.
Since the external restoration of “the General,” two Rowlett firefighters have gone to work making the Chevy move under its own power again, with plans to roll out for the suburb’s Christmas parade later this year. The department itself plans to build a new station in the next couple of years, where this Eagle Scout project will be displayed for all to see.
