Clyde’s Corner: Oh, no! There go the crates into the pouring rain!

by Clyde Whitaker

Here’s another memory of mine from working on the Krummrey Farm during the summer of my senior year in high school. Those of us who worked in the hot muck remember it was almost like quicksand, mushy and uneven.

The trucks we drove back then, at least most of them, had no brakes, but when you pushed the clutch in, you pretty much stopped right there anyway.

We worked Monday through Saturday, 10-hour days, with the exception of Saturday, when we only worked half-days, from 7 a.m. until noon. Saturday also was payday, when we went up to the old wooden building next to the office to collect our pay, in cash.

A lot of the time, only a few men worked on Saturdays. But I usually worked on Saturdays and was allowed to drive the big trucks!

On one particular Saturday, it was an overcast day, with the threat of rain in the air. We drove to the far outskirts of the farm with a small group of onion toppers. I pulled crates off the truck and placed them ahead of the onion toppers to use as needed.

Sure enough, after a little while it started to sprinkle, then it became a steady rain. My dad told the toppers to load up in the canvas-covered work truck, and he drove off to the farm. That left Harry Krummrey, Don Krummrey and me. Harry and I jumped into the crate truck, with Harry driving, and Don followed behind.

It was really coming down as we proceeded toward the farm. I kept looking out my side mirror, watching a pallet of crates tip back and forth … back and forth. They were close to falling over because of the combination of the speed and the uneven road. Then it happened! One of the pallets full of crates did indeed tip, falling over the side of the truck.

Harry hit the clutch to stop—remember, no brakes!—and the three of us jumped out into what was now pouring rain, picking up crates and throwing them back on the truck. Yuck!

Finally, we had all the crates on the truck. and we jumped back into the truck, soaked to the bone. Harry slowed down after that scare, and we made it to the farm with no further incident, soaked but safe.

Clyde Whitaker is a 1973 Stockbridge graduate. He and his wife, Mary, raised four children in Stockbridge, and they still reside in the Stockbridge area.