SUN Technical students raise more than $6,200 for fire company at auction

A restored 1951 Dodge Meadowbrook from SUN Technical Institute in New Berlin brought $6,250 for the New Berlin Fire Company after a lively run through the Spring Carlisle Collector Car Auction, turning months of student labor into cash for a small Union County fire company’s daily needs.

Bidding started at $1,100, climbed to $3,500, then the buyer donated the car back into the auction. It sold again for $2,750, pushing the total to $6,250. The fire company said the money will go toward equipment and operating costs, a practical payoff for a department that Dakota Johnson said has limited fundraising opportunities because it is small.

The donation began last November, when the Hershey Antique Auto Museum gave the 1951 Dodge to SUN Technical Institute. By the time the collision repair technology class got to it, the car had major damage, including a roof that had been badly caved in after a tree fell on it. The job was far beyond a cosmetic refresh. Students did custom metal work, built custom roll pans, smoothed the hood, removed panels and finished the car in a gold base with a black tinted clear coat on top.

Instructor Jonathan Reeder said the work moved slowly through many small steps, but gave students a realistic trade experience and the satisfaction of seeing a difficult repair become a finished showpiece. Coltyn Bickel said the project taught him how to spray and tint clear coat and keep the finish smooth and even, while Aiden Mackert also helped shape the restoration into a vehicle ready for the block in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

The sale fit Carlisle Auctions’ Fund the Firehouse program, a no-reserve charity format in which 100% of the proceeds from donated vehicles go to a designated fire company. Carlisle Auctions says those donations are tax-deductible. The auction was held at the Carlisle Expo Center during Spring Carlisle, a weekend event that also includes about 8,100 vendor spaces across the Carlisle Fairgrounds.

The partnership is not ending with the Meadowbrook. SUN Tech students are now working on two wheelbarrow go-karts for the fall auction, with those vehicles slated to be refinished and donated through the same firehouse program. A 1938 Plymouth sedan is also planned for next year’s auction project, extending a relationship among SUN Technical Institute, Carlisle Auctions and the New Berlin Fire Company that has become more than a classroom exercise. For a small fire company, the money means more than a novelty sale. It means equipment on the truck, bills paid and a better chance to stay ready when Union County calls.