The Delivery Wagon helps deliver funding to Alameda’s museum

ALAMEDA — Lisl Gunderman has a love for small-town museums and the small town of Alameda.

She recently reached out to Sherlynne Best, the secretary-treasurer of the Alameda and District Heritage Museum’s board, to suggest a fundraising idea. Lisl and her husband, Darrell Hunter, have been involved in a labour of love, restoring a snow plane called The Delivery Wagon. That plane was purchased by her grandfather, Dr. Gerry Galloway, back in 1947 from Fudge Industries and was used for many years to make house calls in the snowy winter months.

Galloway was living in Alameda at the time, in the back of a pharmacy that had been built by his father, H.H. Galloway, in 1929. The building still exists, now owned by Prairie Pride Credit Union.

As Lisl and Sherlynne discussed the fundraising idea, it was decided to hold a barbecue dinner on July 17. The Delivery Wagon was the attraction; the Dunnigan family provided all the burgers (and the people to do the barbecuing), and Sloan Farms gave money to cover all the additional expenses. For a donation of any size, people enjoyed a feast of burgers and hot dogs, had a hands-on experience with the snow plane, visited the trailer that serves as a mobile museum detailing the plane’s history and took in the exhibits of the local museum.

For three hours, 170 people came and went, eating and seeing all that was offered. The evening featured an unexpected ‘bonus’ when the Klatt family arrived towards the end with their horses. The children, especially, enjoyed the opportunity to have horseback rides.

When all was tallied up, over $1900 was raised for Alameda’s museum. Gunderman and Best were both overwhelmed with the success of the event and the generosity of the donors.

This was one of the first showings of The Delivery Wagon since its restoration. Lisl and Darrell have possession of it until the fall of 2027, at which time it will be given to the Manitoba Antique Automobile Museum in Elkhorn, Manitoba. The couple plan to use it for fundraising activities until then, primarily for regional museums throughout southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba. 

Lisl and Darrell are happy to see the interest in The Delivery Wagon. They have met many people whose lives have been affected by Dr. Galloway and his use of the snow plane. Several, upon seeing the restored plane, are brought to tears with the memories they have of it. While in Alameda, Mel Knebush told them that “the snow plane saved my life.” Ninety-two-year-old Elmer Tetzlaff was overcome with emotion as he shared memories of Dr. Galloway and his vehicle. A lady, visiting from Kamloops, while looking at the display in the ‘mobile museum’, saw a picture of George Fudge, the son and grandson of the owners of Fudge Industries, who manufactured the plane. She knows George, who also lives in Kamloops.

It was an evening filled with many such memories and emotions.

The Delivery Wagon is doing a lot of travelling these days. From Alameda, it was on to Rocanville, White Bear and the Sukanen Pioneer Village. On July 24 to 27, it will be on display at Austin’s Thresherman’s Reunion and then, after a short break, will reappear at the Carlyle Museum on Aug. 7 and in Oxbow’s Classic Car Show on Aug. 9.

All for the sake of raising funds for small-town museums and stirring up memories.

Just as it did for the museum and people of Alameda.