Students turn old Chevy into nostalgic advertising

It’s a bird? It’s a plane? No, it’s a Chevrolet – soon to be perched atop the barren pole outside Ace Hardware along Highway 2.

With a little help from the alternative Central School arts and crafts students, Ace owner Ted Werner’s 1938 Chevy flatbed will have a fresh look and be ready to advertise.

“This fits us like peas and carrots,” said Werner, who jumped at the idea when approached by Central School. He said the rejuvenated Chevy would be an advertising tool.

Werner said the only hitch in the project has been acquiring an easement from the state. Werner said the access right-of-way off Highway 2 deviates in front of his store.

For the past two weeks, students James Kellogg, John Doyle, Aaron Webber, Jesse Harris and Mykaya Fairchild – under the guidance of Todd Berget – have been prepping, sanding and painting the vintage truck as it readies for its balancing act.

“Todd (Berget) looks at the world as a palate,” Werner said. “Given the opportunity under great leadership, all children of the community are willing to give back.”

Students take pride in the project.

“This is a project for the community,” Fairchild, 16, said. “It’s pretty awesome.”

Webber, 18, sees himself cruising on his skateboard and looking up to see the truck. “Yeah, I helped put this up,” he envisions.

Webber, who often helps his brothers paint and work on other automobiles, said he enjoyed the project.

“When students get behind a teacher excited about a project,” Werner said, “that feeling carries through.”

Werner visited the truck recently and said he is extremely pleased with the work the students have accomplished. He said they are ready to apply “a little bit of nostalgia” with an Ace logo circa 1940s to the truck’s doors.

When the easement process is resolved, the red-and-black Ace Chevy will take its place on Highway 2.