PEA RIDGE — Freshly cut cedar trees are thrown into the back of the bright green and yellow antique freight wagon adornedwith modern electric Christmas lights in preparation for the annual Pea Ridge Christmas parade Saturday.
The theme of this year’s parade is “Coming Home” - an apropos theme for the120-year-old hitch wagon which has recently been restored by the skillful, meticulous carpentry of Darrel Van Roekel.
The wagon will carry cedar trees and children, not too different from the chore it may have carried out for Christmas past for more than 120 years.
“It was built in 1890 by the Wisconsin Wagon Company,” Van Roekel said. “I bought it primarilyfor the wheels.”
And those huge wheels were intact enough to be saved and carefully restored, freshly painted yellow with brown details.
Bright green and yellow, the wagon is painted its original color.
“It was reverse, but when I got to sanding, I found these colors underneath,” Van Roekel said.
It took more than one team to pull this wagon, especially loaded, he said.
Although it looks narrow because it’s so long, Van Roekel said it’s wider than normal.
The wagon seat is about seven feet off the ground atop the front of the 16-foot-long bed used to haul timber out of the Oregon and northern California woods. It traversed Alaskan roads carrying lumber before being shipped to Pineville, Mo., where it was stored by the descendants of the original owner. After the owner’s death, the wagon was sold - certainly a boon to Van Roekel who bought the wagon. Much of the wagon is original, attesting to the care given it by its original owners.
Van Roekel, former city inspector for Pea Ridge, has been building and rebuilding wagons and buggies for about two years. He is in his second retirement, having formerly worked as a contractor before moving to northwest Arkansas, an area the couple specifically chose for its climate.
“We drew a climate arc,” Mr. Van Roekel said. “We wanted weather like in southern Colorado. My wife was from Arizona and she didn’t want hot weather.”
The Van Roekels, originally from Iowa, moved here 20 years ago. They will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary in December. They have four daughters, 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Their youngest daughter, Darcy, lives in Pea Ridge with her husband, Merrill, and daughters Dallice, 8, and Brooke, 4.
On the Jo-Dar Van horse ranch northwest of town, two rooms in the stable are full of assorted parts to wagons and buggies - wheel hubs, joints, brackets, brake assemblies - neatly arranged, waiting to be used. There are enough parts to build four or five wagons, Van Roekel said.
“He makes the most amazing things from that pile of parts,” said Merrill White, the Van Roekel’s son-in-law. “When you see those heaps of stuff ... then see the magnificent buggies he makes from it, it’s amazing. He’s got it down. I can’t even hammer a nail.
“It’s incredible that he can take that big pile of nothing and make a masterpiece!” White said, praising his “dad’s” expertise.
In the barn stands a 1956 International pickup truck which will pull the Wisconsin Wagon Company freight wagon Saturday.
There, too, is a beautiful buggy built by Van Roekel with 100-year-old hardware. It stood on display at the 100th anniversary of the Bank of Pea Ridge in May 2011.
Looking over a wall in the stable was one of a pair of Missouri Foxtrotters that will pull the wagon and buggy someday, JoAnn Van Roekel said.
In another garage stands a chuck wagon complete with boxes and cabinets soon to be filled with castiron and enamel cooking utensils, a water barrel and more. It will be covered with a canvas top. It is built with new wood and old hardware.
An antique sleigh adorns the front porch of their home. Darrel said they used it last year when there was about three inches of snow on the ground and rode it around the farm.
For the Van Roekels, retirement is anything but inactive or idle.
This Saturday, they will enjoy sharing their love of antique wagons with the community as they participate in the annual Christmas parade - their wagon hauling Christmas trees and children instead of lumber.
News, Pages 1 on 11/28/2012