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Big M.... Good will Mission lives on...in New York

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:17 am
by Ida Red
You know I have read the Farmall M article from the start.I have found it very inspirational, as I know many of you have; especially the latest post of pulling about 20 vehicles out of the mud on the way to an Ohio show. I guess helping folks out has really never gone out of style.
It reminded me a little of the old story about the 10-20 my dad use to pull people out with during winter snow and spring mud, before the highway went through.
Not wanting to take anything away from the Farmall M story, with father and son, working side by side... by gollie we want to hear some more rescue stories you folks have made with your IH tractor. Red

Re: Big M.... Good will Mission lives on.

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:22 am
by Barnyard
Back in the late seventies, when I was working in excavation, I had a rainy day off work so I was grabbing a bite to eat at a local restaurant when an older fella came over and said I looked familiar. I told him my name and he said he had worked for my Dad back in the 40’s and 50’s, His name was Buzz Fagaly and I recognized him as the owner of our local feed mill. We started talking about different things and he then said he wanted to tell me a little story. He said that Dad got rained out from the fields for several days back in the early 1950’s, so on one of those days he and a couple of his workers stopped for lunch at the same diner I was at which was near the Great Miami River. The river had swollen from several days rain and they saw a lot of the folks who lived in the river camps packing their belongings to get away from the rising water. All the camps were on skids so they could be moved to high ground in the winter months but nobody could get close enough to pull them out with trucks.

Buzz said Dad came home, got some chains from the barn and told Mom he was going to help the folks by the river and would be home when he was done. He then fired up one of his Farmalls, probably the "M", and headed out for the seven mile drive in the rain with his crew following behind in Dad’s Studebaker truck. He said it was getting dark when they got home but he and his guys had moved over a dozen river camps to higher ground behind the diner. Buzz said a few days later the river covered the area where the camps had sat and they would have been gone had Dad not gone for his tractor.

I mentioned this to Mom not long after that and she said it wasn’t unusual for Dad to go off with one of his trucks or tractors to give a hand when needed. I have always remembered this and I try to help whenever I can and I’m glad Melissa has picked up on this also. I doubt I will ever have to pull river camps to high ground, but the Cubs do find themselves clearing snow for neighbors or cutting the church grass across the road when there is no one else around.

It seems like everyone on this forum enjoys the satisfaction of giving a hand in some way. That is one of the great things about this site.

Re: Big M.... Good will Mission lives on.

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 8:40 am
by Tezell
Nice story, thanks for sharing and the last part was well said also. :)

Re: Big M.... Good will Mission lives on.

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 1:01 pm
by beaconlight
I was the recipient of such help. I was driving home from my nieces house in south New Jersey. Had just got on Rt 18 and blew a tire on the used Ford PU I had recently bought. It didn't have a spare. Knowing there was a gas station up the service road a mile or two I took the tire off and started rolling it up the service road. Soon a PU stopped and the driver said put it in and jump in the back. Of course i did so. He stopped at the station The tire and I got out and he continued on. As he left the guy in the station told me the owner was gone for the day and he had no way to get at the tools. I walked through the3 underpass to a station on the south bound service road. The people there were able and willing to fix the tire. I said I'll be right back with it. Got asked Whats that one. The guy in the PU had dropped his Aunt at Bingo, came back to see how I was doing, figured out what had happened when he saw me walking and drove the tire to where I was. With the blow out the tire was unable to be fixed so I bought a used one to get home. The guy in the PU drove me back to my truck. He would take nothing and said just pass it on. A week later Bev and I were on Tr 357 near Oneonta NY. A Pu ahead of us suddenly veered to the shoulder but the wheel was still in the road. There was some sort of big Locknut had come off. He had no jack so I jacked him up pushed the axle back into place and with a hammer and screwdriver tightened the locknut. The oil seal on that side was shot but the driver and his wife were able to get home OK. Of course I told him the same thing Just pass it on.

Re: Big M.... Good will Mission lives on.

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:59 pm
by Ida Red
A fellow has to believe that 'one good deed leads to another.'
Check out this site. newyorksaysthankyou.org

Re: Big M.... Good will Mission lives on...in NewYork

Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:21 pm
by Ida Red
Hey Boys above is the 'good will mission message' I posted a little over a year ago.
Lately I have been watching,reading and thinking about Hurricane Sandy and all the 'hell' caused for those folks in New York, New Jersey and down the East Coast.
From my nearby town of 32000 people, (Woodstock Ontario), since Nov. 4th a four-man crew from Woodstock Hydro have worked to restore power to communties in Mount Sinai and Terryville. The first night they slept in the cab, the second night in a 30 man bunkhouse trailer and from then on in the St.James Fire Hall where they are being treated like kings. They have been working with fellows from Iowa and Minnesota; restoring power to an average of 50 households a day. Many crews are down there working their tails off to help these folks out.
If you want to see a little more about what is happening ... hit ('new york says thankyou.org'). Go to New York Says Thankyou Foundation, 9/12 Generation Project and Hurricane Sandy Relief Effort.
You Will Be Amazed what happens when people work together.

Re: Big M.... Good will Mission lives on...in New York

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 3:58 am
by Ida Red
If you wanta read a good old story of 'folks helping one another', then check this one out and your add story as well.