Papa’s Truck

Reminiscing about my grandfather this Father's Day, I thought I'd share this story. It’s about a surprise that connected me to him about 50 years after he passed.

If you’ve been to the blueberry farm, you couldn’t miss a 1958 GMC truck parked at the corner of the flower garden. It isn’t just any old truck. It belonged to Milton Burdick, founder of Burdick Blueberries and known to me as Papa.

I don’t really have any recollections of the truck, so it was a surprise to me when my family friend and neighbor, Howard Wulf, said, “Do you want your grandfather’s truck?” After asking, “What truck?“ I went over to see it, and immediately decided yes, I wanted it!

The truck had been stored in his garage for decades with a couple of floods along the way. It was not exactly in working order. Howard explained that Papa had used the truck to haul potatoes to market. He had grown them at this farm, leasing it between 1939-1952. In 1952, he purchased this land and continued growing potatoes while transitioning the field to blueberries. He left behind his Maple dairy farm at the foot of Reed Hill Road and pursued his lifelong interest in growing blueberries.

I dream of restoring this rusty old truck, with its classic fenders, grill, and rounded windshield. Sometimes I envision it driving around the blueberry field. Sometimes I think of restoring the bed of the truck, making it into a deck, a place to drink my morning coffee.  Right now, it’s simply a very fun lawn ornament, a great place for photos, and a shady spot for the farm dogs to rest as they watch us work in the flower garden.