SoRo Fire Chief Is Part
Of Christmas Tree Convoy
By Martha Slater

South Royalton Fire Chief David Whitney, and his dad, retired fire chief Paul Whitney, are spending Thanksgiving as part of a convoy of antique fire trucks accompanying the 2007 Capitol Christmas tree to Washington, D.C.

The two men are driving David’s antique 1981 Mack pumper truck, which is one of 15 Mack antique fire trucks from the area going on the trip. The truck drivers are all members of the Green Mt. "Bull Dawg" chapter of the American Truck Historical Society. The 15 trucks are carrying 80 smaller companion trees and ornaments from the citizens of Vermont.

"Bull Dawg" chapter president David Zsido of Rutland is the organizer of the convoy, which took–as its theme, "remembering our veterans at Christmastime." Paul Whitney is a veteran of the Korean War.

After making its first stop Sunday at the VA Hospital in White River Jct., the convoy left home Monday, Nov. 19. Its itinerary included stops at the Vermont Veterans Home in Bennington, and a number of VA hospitals along the way, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, with final stops at the Walter Reed Army Hospital and Arlington National Cemetery. 

After delivering the tree to the grounds of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Monday, Nov. 26, the group will head north again and is expected to arrive back in Vermont sometime the following day.

Although to many people, a 1981 truck might not seem like an "antique," David Whitney explained that "any truck more than 25 years old is considered an antique. We were going to take my 1959 truck, but it has a tired engine, and I wasn’t sure it would make it."

This is the fifth time Vermont has provided a tree to Washington, D.C.

____________