By JOHN BADEN
Record Herald Writer
Courtesy of the Weekly Record Herald; Printed 7.1.12
WEST MILTON – On a late morning of a hot summer day in July, a group of people line up to march through the city of West Milton. Out of all the men, women and children, one group stands out. A 70-year-old man in blue overalls, wearing a light blue ball cap, rides a red lawn tractor that hauls over 12 smiling children in 55-gallon barrels, which each have its own personality.
The man on the tractor is Dave Paulus, and this will be the 20th year he has driven a 13-barrel train in West Milton’s 4th of July parade.
Dave and his wife, Virginia, have been residents of the village since 1986 and will have been married 48 years on July 11.
Their purpose behind the barrel train in the parade has always been to get the word out on Vacation Bible School at their home church, West Milton Church of the Nazarene.
This year, the Bible school will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. July 9-13. One of the ways they advertise it each year is by placing a church VBS banner above the barrel train.
The train idea came from his niece and nephew, who live in Indiana. While they had a metal barrel train, Dave decided to modernize his by using plastic ones and painting different faces on the front ends of the barrels, which made each one unique for the children.
If the children are small enough, two can fit into one barrel, which gives Dave the opportunity to haul up to 24 passengers at one time.
The train is pulled by a Power King Hydrostatic Drive tractor, which is no longer made. Dave is a proud collector of the brand, owning ten of them.
While they look forward to the parade each year, this isn’t the only event to which the Paulus’ bring the barrel train.
According to Virginia, Dave gives free train rides at 20 to 30 events each year, ranging from parades and festivals to antique clubs, birthday parties and their church’s vacation Bible school.
While he said that “it’s been a lot of fun over the years,” Dave said that he may cut back in the months ahead.
“I think I am going to slow down a little bit more this year and not do as much,” Dave said.
Since riding the barrel train for the first time on July 4, 1993, Dave has been asked to be at many other parades, which included Troy’s Strawberry Festival, Tipp City’s Mum Festival, Versailles Poultry Days and Englewood’s Fine Arts Parade.
“We’ve been in all of them,” Dave said. “We’ve been around quite a bit.”
Dave said that the one problem with parades is when the train is not completely full. Children, who attend the parade, want to “hop in” if they see an open barrel.
“They like to ride it, and that’s one thing about it,” Dave said. “You’re never going to run out of kids.”
Dave recalled their busiest day in Botkins at the Only Believe Ministries church, in which he and Virginia gave children 438 rides in one afternoon.
When events are held on hot days, Dave said he likes to bring a garden hose and sprinkler and set it up to cool off the children and himself.
“Of course, I’ll go through it fast for me and then slow it up for the kids and get them a little wetter,” Dave said with a chuckle.
While the rides are fun, there have been challenges along the way.
During some parades, Dave has ridden the barrel train in front of fire trucks, which he said he doesn’t like doing because the fire truck’s horn “scares the children to pieces.”
“I think some of them join the volunteer fire department, so they can blow that horn,” Dave said jokingly.
He also doesn’t like riding the train in the grass because of its rough surface. This causes Dave to shift down on his tractor to keep the ride as smooth as possible.
“Kids don’t like that,” Dave said. “They want to go fast, and that’s one thing I like about the lawn tractor.”
While his tractor’s speed tops out at 7 miles per hour, Dave said he could use a four-wheeler to pull the train even faster, but children’s safety remains his top priority.
You can catch Dave Paulus’ barrel train right after American Legion in “West Milton’s 4th of July Hometown Parade,” which starts at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 4.
Another special performer in the parade is the Steel Horse Stunters, a motorcycle stunt team.
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