Lodi Town TruckSTATE OF THE ART 1925 – The man in this 1925 photo of a Town of Lodi truck with hoist is believed to be John T. Rallings. An early 1960s edition of the Ovid Gazette featured this photo and another of Rallings seated on the running board of a truck bought by the town in 1919. The caption states that Rallings — well-known for his photography — drove both “service vehicles” for Lodi and that he posed for the picture he took of himself with the 1919 truck. It is likely he did the same in this photo.

Both “first” trucks were sold to the town by John C. Townsend, who operated an Oldsmobile car dealership at the large barn south of what is now Suzanne Fine Regional Cuisine on Rt. 414 at Upper Lake Road. According to handwritten minutes, the town board approved the $3455 Sanford truck purchase on May 18, 1925.

Eldred McCoy (84) of Interlaken recalls that his older sister, Edna (92), sometimes rode in the 1925 truck as John worked around Lodi. When Edna was about twelve, she accompanied Rallings while he gathered stone for the columns flanking the driveway of the West Lodi Cemetery.

Maud Rallings, mother of Eldred and Edna was a cousin of John Rallings.