In the fall of 1973, the city of Holyoke held its Bi-Centennial
parade which turned out to be the largest one ever held in New
England.
The town of Granby, which is a close neighbor of Holyoke wanted
to show its appreciation by having a good turn out and they
did.
Mike Syaban who is Granby Road Superintendent is very interested
in steam and asked if I could let him use my upright boiler and 4X4
steam engine to power a corn sheller owned by a local fanner. They
made a float out of it and it won the Grand Prize. He also asked if
I could enter my steam roller in the parade. The Holyoke Transcript
heard about it and gave us a very nice write-up.
Most people could not believe their eyes when they saw a steam
roller moving under its own power down the streets of Holyoke-it
went over very big.
I told the folks at the Holyoke Transcript that I would like to
send the story and pictures to the Iron-Men Magazine. They thought
that it was a very good idea and cooperated 100% by making the
original pictures and articles so I could send them to you and
wished me luck with the project.
I hope that some of this material will interest the readers
because the folks in New England do not have the steam equipment
that the folks in the middle west have, but what we lack in
equipment is made up in enthusiasm.
