CANFIELD FAIR ROLLS IN FOR 180TH YEAR

Model T makes its move

CANFIELD -- Earlier this summer, an offer was made to the Western Reserve Village Foundation at the Canfield Fairgrounds to donate a 1926 Ford Model T along with its rich history.

The foundation and the fair board approved the donation, and the vintage vehicle was moved to the fairgrounds as part of the permanent historic collection at the village.

"It is a nice addition to our collection," said Jamie Davis, president of the Western Reserve Village Foundation.

Brothers John and Jerry Dixey donated the vehicle. They also wrote down the history of the vintage car and how it came into their family.

The 1926 Ford Model T Station Wagon was originally purchased for use as a taxi on the island of Put-In-Bay, Ohio. The island contained a hotel and the only way to access it was by boat. The Model T was used to take guests from the dock to the hotel and around the island. It served well with its three wooden bench seats.

In the 1930s, W.C. Dixey of Milan, Ohio, purchased the Model T for use on his farm.

"He would take his (farm) produce to market each week in the Model T wagon," said Jerry Dixey. "After World War II, as he was becoming too old to farm, he decided to move to Canfield and live with his daughter, Margaret Dixey Scott, who was a Canfield fourth-grade teacher from 1920 until she retired in 1957."

In 1948, W.C. drove his 1926 Model T from Milan to Canfield. The vehicle made the trip and was stored in a barn at Edwards and Lisbon streets for about 10 years.

In 1959, Mrs. Scott's son John Dixey pulled the vintage car out of the barn and began a restoration.

"He and a number of other car enthusiasts, including Don Snyder Sr. formed The Greater Youngstown Chapter of the Model T Ford Club," Jerry Dixey said. "Barb and John Dixey attended car events in the area throughout the 1960s."

He said both he and his brother Jack often accompanied their parents and grew to love the car show crowd and cruise-ins.

On July 4, 1967, with the restoration completed, John drove the station wagon in the first Canfield Fourth of July Parade. Passengers in the vehicle included Superintendent of Canfield Schools C.M. Johnson and Margaret Dixey Scott, among others.

Driving the car in the parades became a regular annual event for John Dixey. He would drive the parade route, then return home to take part in another ritual -- storing the car until the following year. He used floor jacks to raise the Model T off the ground and turn it sideways in his single-car garage.

"Storing the T sideways in the garage was wild," Jerry Dixey said. "That was before my dad built a small garage attached to the back of the house specifically for the T."

John Dixey and the Model T participated in every Canfield Fourth of July Parade from 1967 until 2003. John died in August 2003.

Jerry said the Model T was displayed on the Green in Canfield during the 2004 July 4th parade to commemorate the history of this Model T and the participation of John Dixey. The T was then passed down to Jerry Dixey, John's son. It had been housed with Jerry's collection of vehicles since then.

Jerry Dixey and his brother, Jack Dixey, decided this year to offer the Model T as a gift to the Western Reserve Pioneer Village at the fairgrounds. John and Barb Dixey loved the Canfield Fair and attended every year. The Fourth of July Parade starts inside the fairgrounds.

"We decided there would be no better place and way to honor our mother and father than to have it permanently displayed at the Western Reserve Village at the Canfield Fairgrounds," Jerry Dixey said.

WRV Foundation officer Bill Davis said it fit perfectly in the Carriage Barn, clearing the entry way and taking its place among a variety of vintage buggies and wagons. The vehicle will be displayed near the Erie Railroad Station in the village during this year's fair, which starts today and runs through Labor Day on Monday.

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