By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — A 100-year-old pumper truck and a return of the champagne luncheon will be highlights of CHEER’s 12th annual Classic Car-Truck-Bike Show next month.

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 6 at the Warren L. and Charles C. Allen Jr. CHEER Community Center at 20520 Sand Hill Road, east of Georgetown. The rain date is Aug. 7.

Showcased at the event will be Georgetown Fire Co.’s 100-year-old American LaFrance pumper, the first motorized fire apparatus purchased by the agency.

Christened Pumper 77-22, it actively served the fire department for more than three decades and now, though still functional, is a museum piece.

“It still runs. It still pumps water,” said fire company president Jake Ricker.

Called “pristine” by Walter Koopman, the show’s facilitator, the equipment will be displayed near the main entrance of the center.

Luncheon returns

In addition to the dozens of vehicles on display outside, the popular champagne luncheon returns this year, back inside after previous COVID-19 restrictions.

The meal, from 11:30 until 1, will feature 65 feet of foods prepared by CHEER staff, including chicken Marsala, baked ham, cocktail meatballs, many various side dishes, assorted desserts and, of course, mimosas.

Lunch tickets are $30, while admission to the car show is free.

At 1, trophies will be awarded to vehicles in the show in multiple classes. All participants will receive a dash plaque. Advance registration, for $55 per vehicle, is recommended and includes a ticket to lunch. To register, visit here or call 302-853-4200.

Participants must be registered and positioned by 10.

Monies raised will benefit CHEER services for Sussex County’s older adults.

Piece of history

Manufactured at American LaFrance in Elmira, New York, the triple combination pumper arrived at the Georgetown train station Aug. 26, 1922, and still features some of its original equipment.

“It was offloaded off the rail car and put in service. It’s been in Georgetown ever since,” said Mr. Ricker. “A lot of these antiques you see across the country and up in northern Delaware, a lot of them were purchased as antiques and fixed up. But this has been in Georgetown since brand new.”

The 1922 purchase price was $10,250. In comparison, a pumper today would probably run about three-quarters of a million dollars, Mr. Ricker estimated.

The CHEER display will include copies of the original receipt, manuals and packing list. The fire company also welcomes photos of the historic apparatus.

Mr. Ricker recalled an old story, when the pumper drafted nine hours out of the canal in Lewes for a big blaze.

“It was an operational firetruck for 34 years. It was a workhorse,” he added.

As part of a 100-year celebration for the apparatus, Station 77 will hold a rehousing event Aug. 27 at 2 p.m. The pumper will be driven from the old firehouse around town.

“We’re going to drive it through town and do an old-fashioned rehousing ceremony, where the firemen push it back in the house like they used to back then,” said Mr. Ricker.