Pink Oliver Generates Donations for Hospice
Mike and Gina White's pastel 1955 Oliver Super 77 raises funds for Wisconsin-based AngelsGrace
February 2010
Gloria Hafemeister
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Gina White at the wheel of her 1955 Oliver Super 77. The tractor and the people carrier it pulls are festooned in pink tulle, and the tractor – dubbed “Trixie” – is tastefully accessorized with glass doorknobs and fuchsia placards.
Gloria Hafemeister
|
Every antique tractor and piece of equipment seems to have a story behind it.
Take Mike White’s 1955 Oliver Super 77. Although most restorers strive to make their treasures look exactly as they did when they rolled off the assembly line, Mike opted to paint his Oliver pink, and adorn it with rhinestones and sparkly accessories.
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Mike’s wife, Gina, takes credit for the unlikely color. “He wanted me to drive one of his tractors in the Hartland (Wis.) parade,” she says, “and I told him the only way I’d do it would be if he’d paint it pink.”
There was a method to Gina’s madness. She and Mike are enthusiastic supporters of AngelsGrace Hospice, a 5-year-old facility near Oconomowoc, Wis., where Gina volunteers one day a week. She envisioned a pink tractor as a means of generating support for AngelsGrace – and it worked. She drove the tractor in several parades, pulling a wagon (decorated in pink, naturally) full of women who paid at least $100 for a seat.
“It was amazing,” she says. “I asked for $100 a person, and 50 people paid that and more. We went through parades in Oconomowoc, Hartland and Stone Bank.” Each paying passenger received a T-shirt (in pink, of course) and was a guest at post-parade parties.
Mike bought the Oliver from a Brookfield, Wis., farmer, intending to make mechanical repairs, give it a new paint job and add it to his collection. “The engine was in good shape, but the clutch was going out and we had to split the tractor to repair that,” he notes. “We had trouble getting a part that we needed but I operate a machine shop so we made it there.”
Once the mechanical work was complete, Mike sandblasted the tractor and was on course to return it to its original colors. “That’s when Gina came up with the idea of using it as a fundraiser,” he says. Together they picked the color (using a breast cancer survivor’s pink ball cap as inspiration). Car Craft, an area body shop, donated the paint job.