RSSRestoration of a relic
Grandview man returns old WWII Cushman scooter to original form just in time for paradeYakima Herald-Republic
Grandview retiree Dick Herriman refurbished this 1940s military scooter with precise historical accuracy. He plans to ride it in Yakima's Veterans Day parade.
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GRANDVIEW -- What once was lost, now is found.
It just took 50 years.
Retiree Dick Herriman sold his military surplus Cushman scooter to a neighbor in the late 1940s. The man gave it back to him in 2002 and Herriman has just finished restoring it with impeccable historical accuracy.
"I'm always curious about how things were made, where, when," says Herriman.
The 75-year-old handyman now drives the scooter, complete with a sidecar, in parades and occasionally zips it around his childhood hometown of Grandview. Tuesday's Veterans Day parade in Yakima is next on his agenda.
After that, it will be displayed at the McAllister Museum of Aviation.
Herriman is no stranger to fixing things. He also owns a 1930 Model A Deluxe Roadster and a modest collection of old clocks.
But with the scooter, he spent a good chunk of his effort researching history.
Here's what he learned: His scooter is one of 100 Model 34 M-70s ordered by the Army Air Corps 747th Bombardment Squadron. His was most likely used at McChord Air Force Base. It might be the only 747th scooter left.
That rarity has McAllister Museum volunteers excited.
"A lot of these things after the war were junked," says Chuck Naasz, the display coordinator.
Herriman's Cushman will be set up alongside other World War II era vehicles and equipment, including a military jeep.
"There's been a real renewed interest in World War II," Naasz says.
The saga of the scooter after the war is just as interesting.
It was purchased by a Grandview teenager from a Zillah Army surplus store and painted red.
Herriman, also a teenager at the time, then bought it for $20. He put a new tire on the front and painted the scooter green.
A few years later, he sold it to a neighbor, Buck Clark, who planned to use it on his farm. Clark never did.
The Clarks moved to Pasco while Herriman moved around the Lower Valley, raised a family and worked. He owned a gas station in Mabton for a while, worked the sales and service counter at Carnation plant in Sunnyside and spent 10 years as a school custodian in Grandview.
He retired in 1996. He and his wife Loretta have three kids and four grandchildren.
In 1967, he moved back to the Grandview home on Walnut Lane in which he was born and raised.
He always kept in touch with the Clarks. One day, during a visit in Pasco, his old friend showed him the scooter. It had set outside in the weather for more than 50 years. By then it was a rusted hulk of metal, barely recognizable.
Clark gave it back to him.
As Herriman scoured away the old paint, he noticed military markings. He took pictures and contacted the Military Preservation Society, finding printouts about his model from official archives.
He rebuilt and repainted it down to minute detail. He bought custom-made stencils. Sometimes he built his own parts; other times he ordered them through the Cushman Club of America. A friend who visited McChord recently brought back a World War II era steel helmet and goggles.
Herriman even recreated a misspelled word on the side of the sidecar --
"presure."
Loretta Herriman likes her husband's hobby.
"It keeps him really going," she says.
He doesn't know how much his Cushman is worth. One man offered him $7,500 and that was before he was even done.
He finished restoring the Cushman in June and says he's not interested in selling. He rode it in the Toppenish Fourth of July Parade, the Grandview Community Parade in August and the Prosser State's Day Parade in September.
After the Veterans Day parade, he will drop it off at the museum.
"I'm just thankful I have a warm place to keep it so I can get in my shop again," he says.
The museum will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Veterans Day. Normal hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Admission is a freewill donation.
* Ross Courtney can be reached at 930-8798 or rcourtney@yakimaherald.com.
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