2014 October PASO Magazine

By Chuck Desmond
We’re getting used to seeing new entries each
year in Paso’s grandest event – Pioneer Day –
which of course is headlined by the yearly parade
down Spring St. Each successive year opens the
way for another opportunity to show off newly
re-discovered treasures from our glorious past.
In some cases, these treasures have to be restored
from whatever condition they were found in.
As for things that “roll on down the street,”
they have to be parade worthy. There simply
can’t be any chance of having a wheel decide to
leave the axle, scatter a dozen sidewalk spectators
and end up in a store front window! Besides that
chaos, it really slows down the parade! We don’t
like that.
We are so lucky here because we have the
Central Coast Woodworkers. They are a mostly-benevolent
organization of caring and giving
men and women that hand-make all kinds of
things from Toys For Tots to cabinets at the Historical
Society to teaching youth how to work
with wood and use the tools that transform a log
into an item of beauty or usefulness.
For each of the past four years, they have
rebuilt a significant and local wagon into a
“piece of beautiful historical rolling stock.”
The first was a water wagon with a huge tank.
Next came the grand discovery that under
the paint of what was thought to be an
old hauling wagon, was actually a very historic
Civil War Cavalry Military Transport
wagon! Third was a 1930s Grain Broadcaster
from the August Wolf Ranch in Shandon.
It had been up on jacks for years at Pioneer
Museum until the men gave it a new deck and
wheels that didn’t collapse. Last year witnessed
the salvation of a non-descript farm wagon
that was in such bad shape, even the termites
had left it for dead. When they were done,
it became one of the most beautiful entries in
the parade.
$
75
Perm &
Haircut
This year’s project was The Jack Ranch
Wagon. Historical Jack Ranch is about 76,000
acres and surrounds the tiny pueblo of Cholame.
Sitting basically at the intersection of Highways
41 and 46, it is now owned by the Hearst
Corporation since the early1960s and, is one of
the largest ranches in the county. The history
of the formation of the ranch and the men and
women who started it and their migration from
Maine to Hollister to SLO county is a great
story unto itself. For awhile, the ranch was “the
largest wool growing place” in probably all of
California. Slowly it morphed into a cattle and
grain operation. Because the ranch was so far out
from the train depots and towns where supplies
could be purchased, everything that was used to
sustain the ranching business, had to be tougher
than tough.
The Jack Ranch Wagon was donated to the
Pioneer Day Committee and once again, El
Paso de Robles’ very own Wagon Master, Professor
Emeritus Wade Taylor, enlisted The Woodworkers,
as they are commonly called, to fix it.
Built in the late 1800s or early 1900s, the wagon
was massively created from heavy hardwood
beams and heavy-duty axles and wheels to carry
the heavy loads of grain and feed. When fully
loaded, it weighed so much that it took 6 to 10
draft horses or mules to pull it. Then, someplace
along the way, probably as motorized trucks
became available and somewhat reliable, it was
converted to a feed wagon. That meant it stayed
out on the ranch but now had a feed-box built in
to supply feed to fill troughs at the feeding pens
across the ranch.
At Pioneer Museum on Riverside, there is a
dedicated area that showcases itself as an oldtime
woodworking area. Most of the year it is a
display area as part of the Museum’s collection
but during ‘wagon rebuild season’ it becomes
home to CCWA where the volunteers do their
work. Michael Aroner is this year’s lead honcho
The Central Coast Woodworkers latest project,
above, and completed wagon, below
and along with a half dozen others, they tore
into the project. Funding was supplied with
some private donations and proceeds from the
Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest.
To get the Ranch Wagon back to ‘original,’
the feed box was removed for starters. Then, all
the heavy lumber was taken off and the good
pieces were set aside to be re-used. The paint was
stripped; wheels and axles were rebuilt; a new
set of side rails were crafted plus an entire new
seat and set of springs were created. Little by
little, the wagon was reassembled, complete
with a brand new tongue, and everything received
a bright new coat of blue and red paint.
All added up, about 500 volunteer hours were
spent. The wagon will be pulled by a 4-up or
6-up set of draft horses.
As part of Paso’s Quasquicentennial, following
the parade and bean-feed in the park, a few
wagons will remain in City Park for the day.
To cap off the Pioneer Day experience, make
sure you head to Pioneer Museum campus to
see all these wagons, the tractors and so much
more up close and personal. Food, a small engine
show, music and of course the museum with
6,000 artifacts is open for visitors.
For more information about the Central
Coast Woodworkers, go to CCWWA.org –
notice the extra “W” – or call the new President,
Ms. Bonnie McElwain at 927-1271.
32 Paso Robles Magazine, October 2014