The scene? The Cafe in the dining room. The time? Usually 5pm. Across from our table I often notice a man who appears very distinguished, almost resembling the artist, Degas, but quiet in nature. I hear from others that this man is most interesting, I can’t resist being inquisitive and curious, and I set up an interview. Our Villager for December is Gene Grayson.

Gene, an only child, was born in New York City. He attended public school until 5th grade, and then went to the Ethical Culture School, New York City. After high school, Gene entered Cornell University; but in 1942, at age 19, Gene was drafted into the Army, taking basic training at Columbia, South Carolina. He discovered most of the men there were also nineteen years old. Gene was assigned to the 87th Infantry Division (3rd Army – Patton’s Army) and served as a forward observer and radio operator with the 912 Field Artillery. Today, Gene attributes his bad back to the 40-pound radio he carried on his back during WWII. He fought from the Saar Valley to the Battle of the Bulge to the German surrender. One day riding in the back of a jeep, Gene turned on his radio, and heard another infantry company calling for help. Their backup could not hear them, but he did. Gene called their artillery unit, relayed their distress, and let them know their outfit was in trouble, and where they were. Gene saved many lives improvising this communication, and for his quick action, was awarded a Bronze Star. He stayed until the end of the war, and was discharged in 1945, with the rank of Corporal.

After the war, Gene returned to Cornell to finish his education. He earned a B.A. in English Literature, and then, not knowing where to go for a job, stumbled into Advertising. In the beginning of his career he worked for Grey and Ted Bates Advertising. At Grey, he met Florence, who also worked there, and they married in 1953. Gene and Florence had one daughter, Laura, who lives in Perkasie, PA. Gene later took a job at Ogilvy and Mather, working there for sixteen years as Creative Director, Senior Vice President and became a member of the Board. He wrote, or supervised, 28 million dollars worth of TV advertising for Rolls Royce, KLM, General Foods, Hershey, Dove, Pepperidge Farms and International Paper to name a few.

Gene tells a story of doing a TV commercial for Dove for dishes. He wrote a funny story that needed an actual dove to fly through a window. Hidden on the other side of the window was a cage of female doves. The male dove was being enticed with female doves, bird food and bird trainers: all to no avail. The filming began at 9 AM, and finally at 6 PM, one dove flew through the set.

Gene hired Danny Thomas for the commercial for Maxwell House. Danny was in the show, MAKE WAY FOR DADDY. They became good friends and often had dinner together. Gene also used Danny’s daughter, Terre, for his commercials.

Gene lived in Tenafly, New Jersey for many years and came to Pine Run after his wife passed away. At 91 years old he is truly glad to be here. Although Gene is basically a quiet and reserved individual, I found him most charming, thoughtful and funny once I got to know him.

— Elinor Cohen

Last August, Ceil asked me if it would be possible to repair the Pine Run “Green Wagon”, a basically classical buckboard wagon historically used on farms in their fields and to transport produce to market. I think our wagon is between 100 to 130 years old.

I formed a team with Irv Thompson and Tom Swartz to see if we could possibly at least repair the platform box, which had rotted out over the years. We concluded that it could not be repaired, but we strongly felt that a new platform could be made exactly as the old one. The metal frame was in excellent condition and could be used. The real problem was not the platform but the wagon wheels. They had deteriorated to the point where they would have to be replaced. This became our main focus and our biggest problem. We explored the possibility of locating a replacement wagon. This became an impossible task and proved to be cost prohibitive. In all probability it would be in the range of $30,000 and up. We were not sure that one existed that would meet our requirements, even for that amount of money. So, back to the drawing board.

We removed the platform and used a piece of it as a paint sample. Irv decided to use one-half inch PVC instead of wood for the sides, front and back, and pressurized wood for the platform under-frame. The floor of the platform would be three-quarter inch PVC. PVC has an outdoor lifespan of 25 to 30 years so we do not anticipate it would create a near-term problem.

The Wheels. The wagon had four rubber tire-sealed bearing wheels, two 36 inch diameter wheels in the back and two 34 inch wheels in the front. The front wheels could be pivoted so the wagon could be steered, and the fact that they were smaller made turning a little easier. These deteriorated wheels had to be removed and replaced and because of the antiquity of the wagon and its wheels, this was a complicated and major effort. It took us a long time to realize that we had to knock off the end of the wheel hubs in order to get at the square nuts on the end axles holding the wheels on. It took a while to learn that the nuts were left handed on the right side and right handed on the left side. We were finally able to remove the wheels. The wheel axles were tapered and about 6 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. This made it complicated to find new wheels that would fit these dimensions.

There were no distributors or manufacturers in our area that had, or could get, wagon wheels that would fit our requirements. Searching the internet, we located a number of companies in the Mid- and Southwest who specialized in wagon wheels, but their prices, with freight and shipping costs, were prohibitive. I went to the Amish in Lancaster County and they had an outlet in Gordonville, PA, which sold their Ornamental Wagon Wheels and I felt that we could adapt these wheels to meet our requirements. At Gordonville, I saw the actual wheels and realized that some way – somehow – they could be adapted to our axles. No 34 inch wheels were available so we bought two 32 inch and two 36 inch wheels. Brandon, in Maintenance made two different-diameter copper tubes as a double axle sleeve, and with brass washers we were able to mount the wheels and secure them with the original nuts.

The next step was to paint each of these wheels with a primer coat and two coats of high quality outdoor house paint to provide maximum protection when the wagon was exposed to the weather. Painting the wheels was a time-consuming task because there were four wheels with 12 spokes per wheel. Using our samples, we purchased green paint for the platform and yellow for the wheels from Austin Briggs. The special striping for the platform and wheels was ordered from 3M.

We built a special painting jig to allow me to paint both sides at one time. Just finishing the wheels took about sixty man-hours! But, now, we could see the light at the end of the tunnel and we were in a position to do the final assembly of the wagon. The platform was built, painted, striped and attached to the wooden mainframe. The wheels were painted, striped and the outer bands painted with a rust-resistant special paint. The final assembly took time, with a few small problems that were easily solved. We applied axle grease to the wheels and installed them. Irv, Tom and I finally put the wagon together and met our deadline of the October 2015 Fall Festival. It was a fun project and we learned a lot. We just hope that you like and enjoy the “new” wagon.

— Jack Venner