The boy was in rough shape, problems way beyond just a leaky boot.
It took two men and another small boy to heft him up and onto an ambulance stretcher. 600 pounds was the legal limit for the gurney. The boy’s over 600 pounds maxed out the stretcher’s legal weight limit warning tag.
What happened to the Maine boy?
Exposure and too much time left outdoors through all types of weather had caused the steady decline. Loved by all, he was a popular boy known by many. But the years of cold wet weather and wind combined with harsh baking sunshine exposure were catching up to the boy with the outdoor home.
The ambulance snaked its way to Hodgdon, going out the Calais Road and slowly turning onto the Catalina Road.
The situation was dire, the long list of ailments and need for emergency surgery called for special attention stat.
After backing beep beep beep into the location where the boy would spend months of rehabilitation, it took many hands to carefully, slowly pull out and easy does it lower Clancy and the stretcher to ground level.
Rolling him into the open, well lit garage bay door, the rehab work began immediately under the watchful eye and skilled hand of Rod Hemingway. (Silence) What?
Why Rod Hemingway? I mean, gee I know he is a skilled plumber and bee keeper, boy scout team leader and pretty crafty at rebuilding yesteryear early snowmobiles but why Rod? Does he have a medical degree?
The boy was so heavy because he was made of pig iron. Bulky like dead weight cast iron radiators.
His head had come off and his arm held high all those years holding rock steady a perpetual leaking boot was compromised too.
Everything canceled. No more shows, no more public displays. And probably no more moving back and forth to his winter home at Houlton PD where he wears a festive Santa hat.
Ho Ho Ho.
He is the best gift to a town a kind person could ever give in memory of her dearly departed husband.
Life had caught up to the boy despite Mike Clark and Kay Trickey and Bob Aucoin among others providing emergency care and touch up over the years.
Too much outdoor living and picture taking with selfie posing tourists. Too many HFD ice cream cones enjoyed while listening and admiring his leaking boot. Everyone admires His distinctive red shirt, blue pants and turn of the century hat.
The 1916 Ambassador of Houlton Maine purchased by Clara Frisbe for the area to enjoy and to welcome out of town guests was in seriously poor condition. Needing more than a cosmetic patch and a dab of new paint.
Rod Hemmingway is old enough to know about soldering, welding the brittle and outdated materials used back in 1916. His mission was to reattach the boy’s head, to reinforce and make the boy’s body parts solid and better than new.
Or at least get the boy back on his feet and able to climb back up on his dark green 8 water fountain pedestal perch.
Where is his home? His home today in the Pierce Park triangle where Main and Military merge in Houlton Maine is a common tourist destination stop. Where the PD and FD can be close at hand if the need arises.
How did the touch and go life and death operation go? (Sound of medical equipment beeping monitors and respirator puffs of air)
It was nip and tuck. Lots of consulting, using the cell phone shout outs, the computer for technical advice consultations.
Long hours in the garage under the shop lights with construction of special brackets and jacks to hoist the heavy boy up and spin him around during several reconstruction procedures.
Some of those operations were trial and error but eventually the reinforcing was done, painting complete and all just in time for the summer tourist season.
Thank you Rod Hemingway for so so many hours of precision attention to Clancy, our friendly welcoming symbol of Houlton Maine, the Aroostook County seat, our beloved Shiretown.
Only a few these boys were produced back in 1916. Leigh, please jump in and tell us more about Clara Frisbe’s $1000 dollar gift that brought the boy to Houlton Maine from New Jersey.
Remember when the boy was parked in front of the Cary Library? https://www.flickr.com/photos/mooersrealty/3272470515
The newly rebuilt boy with the leaking boot is getting finishing shiny cosmetic touches.
Experimenting with paint because his color looked like iron poor blood. So much intricate work done to reinforce and replace the damage of time.
(You try holding a heavy water filled boot high in the air for 109 years and see how your body reacts.) Probably hard on L3 and L4 or other parts of your back and neck structure no?
Stay tuned for Clancy’s like new factory fresh appearance.
His plastic surgery did not involve use of Botox.
No, he did not need a tummy tuck or stomach staple, dentures or hair plugs either.
This morning Rod and his associate Cheryl Welton are working steadily to complete the final touches.
Will post new images and please share the news and your fond memories of the boy with the leaking boot.
Do you have a beloved well known symbol of your small Maine town?
A covered bridge, a Paul Bunyan that represents the vast wooded forest sections of 91% of Maine?
What would be a good addition to your local small rural Maine community if not and let’s start fund raising?
The boy with the leaking boot was a big hit during the solar total eclipse in Houlton Maine too.
If traveling through Houlton Maine in Aroostook County, don’t miss sampling an ice cream and photo bombing the Boy with the leaky boot as a keepsake remembrance.
Tourism in Maine is not not so hot and heavy in small rural Maine communities. But the simple lifestyle and outdoor recreation opportunities they offer are no longer a secret.
The word is out and more folks outside Maine was what we have had for years.
These Me In Maine blog posts are designed to one by one spill the beans. Friendly, no traffic, low crime all pure and natural outdoor splendor. Maine, the way life should be and yes, the locals know how lucky we are to live, work and play in Maine.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com |
MOOERS REALTY 69 North ST Houlton ME 04730 USA