Lighting up the holidays: Gammell’s lighted holiday fire truck is a holiday hit

Dave and Deb Gammell’s lighted holiday fire truck is continuing to light up Christmas events and children’s faces this holiday season.
The fire truck is a 1966 VCO 190 International fire truck that was once in service with the Southern Cove Volunteer Fire Company in New Enterprise, Pa., before being retired and sold at public auction and ending up in Sandusky, Ohio.
Gammell said he picked up the truck 13 years ago after finding it listed on the auction website EBAY. The truck didn’t sell during the listing, so Gammell said he called the seller and bought it through a private sale. After purchasing the truck, Gammell said the next step was to go pick it up at its location in Ohio.
“I had Deb take me to Creston and jumped on Amtrak. I run a repair shop, and I’ve been a mechanic all my life. I packed a three-drawer Craftsman tool box and rode all the way to Sandusky and picked it up, and I had 800 miles on the way back to think about what I wanted to do with it,” Gammell said.
Initially, Gammell said he planned to modify the truck and use it to tow two restored International pickups. However, after he returned home, Gammell said Deb told him he couldn’t go through with that plan.
“We had five grandkids, and Deb told me that everyone loved fire trucks, and so she wanted me to leave it as it was. So it started out where I just drive it around town and we went to parades,” commented Gammell.
After letting the fire truck sit for a couple of winters, Gammell said the idea to make it holiday themed took hold.
“I talked to Deb and said if she wasn’t going to let me do what I want to do with it, I’m going to put some lights on it. So I did that, and I put in a sound system on it, and seating on the top deck. When I bought it, I never thought of using it for what I use it for today, but I think the greater being up above had a plan for it and for us. We’ve hauled almost 1,000 people in it this winter alone,” Gammell explained. “When I can haul a kid, or a family, and see the beauty of Christmas in their eyes, that’s very special to me to give them that experience, and the thank you colorings we get from kids that rode on the fire truck are also really special. We’ve experienced a lot of things on this truck.”
Initially, Gammell said they were just driving the truck around towns and not giving any rides. They lived in Griswold for a few years, and Gammell remembered there was one family in particular that stood out.
“There was one house with three little boys, and they would always run out, sometimes in their pajamas, sometimes even without shoes, and they’d come out to the sidewalk and wave frantically. I wanted to give those kids a ride, but I felt if we started doing that, we’d be constantly hauling people, so at that time, we didn’t.” Gammell said.
Little did Gammell know at the time, he would later get his chance to do so for the kids.
“A friend of mine at the church asked me to come up and give the kids a ride. So we did, and after that, my friend told me that we needed to go down and pick up a family at a house, because they didn’t have a car. So I told them to tell me where I needed to go. And guess where we went? We went to those boys’ house. And that was very touching,” Gammell commented. “They were adopted, and they came from a very dysfunctional family. The mother came and thanked me at the end and said that I didn’t understand how important it was. That’s why we enjoy doing this. God works in mysterious ways, and we are very fortunate to be able to give back our services and make happy memories. There’s just not enough of this in the world.” 
In 2011, Gammell said he was contacted by the Montgomery County Family YMCA and asked if he would haul kids at Christmastime. Gammell said yes and has been hauling them ever since. In 2012, Gammell also started helping with the Toys for Tots program.
“This is a great thing for the community to bring smiles to the kids’ faces. Matt Franks is the gentleman that got me on board. The Marines, Fareway Grocery store, and the Red Oak Police Department are great,” Gammell stated.
Gammell also comes to Red Oak on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving to haul kids from the downtown square during the Red Oak Chamber and Industry’s holiday event.
“Red Oak is the best town we go to. The lights on all the houses are great and the people always welcome us as we drive through the town.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the availability to do Christmas events for a short time, Gammell credits Matt Davis with the Montgomery County Family YMCA for coming up with a great plan to keep the holiday spirit going through the pandemic.
“Davis said there were seven checkpoints they wanted to bring Santa to in Red Oak, and asked me to drive him and Mrs. Claus to those check points on the truck, and of course I said yes. Santa had a mic, and the kids had a mic, and they were able to ask Santa questions, and it was very important during that time for the kids to know that Santa was alive and well.”

Christmastime is the busiest season for the truck, starting with the Clarinda Christmas parade, and outside of Christmas, Gammell said they sometimes give rides during Thanksgiving for families who aren’t meeting for Christmas, and also provide rides for non-Christmas events such as weddings and class reunions.

Gammell said while they limit long distance travel due to the age of the truck, they have traveled beyond Montgomery County. They have traveled several times to Council Bluffs businesses to ring the bell for the Salvation Army, and park the truck away from themselves and don’t tell anyone that they own it, but still, people seem to know.

“You won’t believe the number of people that will set their kids on it and take pictures, and then they’ll come up to us as we’re ringing the bell and tell us how much they like the truck, even though we don’t publicize the fact that we’re the owners of it.”

Those trips to Council Bluffs also led to one of Gammell’s most vivid memories of having the truck out. They were ringing the bell outside of the JC Penney store during a very cold evening and offered their shelter to a woman customer who was waiting for her husband to pick her up. After he did, Gammell thought that was the end, but as it turned out, there was more to the experience.

“They drove down the aisle where the fire truck was parked, and stopped, and then they came back. They rolled the window down, and the man’s wife said that we didn’t know how special we were. She said she had lost her brother that day, and the music we were playing from the fire truck gave her hope. There’s no way she could have known it was our fire truck, but somehow she did. That really put a lump in my throat,” Gammell stated.

The truck still carries the symbol of it’s former life as a Pennsylvania fire struck, and includes the names of the Gammell’s grandkids, But Gammell said the most important detail on the truck is the sentence, “Coming your way with happy memories,” which is what he and Deb always strive for.

“We want to leave a good memory with a kid and their family. It starts when they’re young, and it’s a big deal in my book. If you have more good memories than bad, you’ll make it in life. We have hauled between eight and nine thousand people for all different occasions in the 12 years and that is a lot of “happy memories” for us, let alone for the people that rode on it.”

For more information about the fire truck, or to schedule a ride, contact Dave Gammell at 712-767-2469, 712-789-0155, or email dgammell@netins.net.