A bit of serendipity – which combined town history, conversations with a Concord descendant of John Thomas Hayes, and a phone call to Hayes' descendants in Baltimore, Md. – led Armand Verville, President of the Allenstown Historical Society, to acquire the town's first school bus, a 1925 REO Speed Wagon. Hayes had lived on Podunk Rd. and had bought the new truck to transport children along Podunk Rd. and Deerfield Rd. to school at the building which is now town hall.

After the current owners agreed to donate the truck to Allenstown, Mr. Verville and crew drove all the way to Baltimore where the truck had been stored for some 30 years. After pumping up the flat tires, his crew loaded the truck onto the flatbed trailer and towed it back to Allenstown in late September 2015. To Mr. Verville's surprise, the engine actually started up.

The plans are to restore the vehicle but first, Mr. Verville and Road Agent, Ron Pellisier, led the effort to erect a display building in front of town hall. Next time you visit town hall, take a few minutes to look over the vehicle and read a bit about its history and the role it played almost 100 years ago.

[INSERT PHOTO OF REO IN FRONT OF TOWN HALL]

Send your tax deductible donations to the Allenstown Historical Society, P.O. Box 94, Allenstown, NH 03275. For more information, you can contact Mr. Verville at 485-4437.

For the full story with photos, go to the news article published Oct. 3, 2015 in the Concord Monitor. The article also includes a link to vintage advertising for the wagon which was then built in Lansing, Michigan.