During the 2005 Northern Indiana Power from the
Past Antique Power Show held at the Winamac, Ind., city park last
July, I was attracted to a very neat working display of restored
gas engines.
As I soon discovered, this was the Holderman family display of
engines. As Stan, the father, told me, “We’ve been collecting for
30 years or so and find it a big challenge to take an old
non-working piece of equipment and restore it back to original, or
as close to original as possible.” Stan, his wife, Aleta, their
son, Larry, and his son, Matthew, travel to many shows displaying
their beautifully restored engines.
Matthew, the youngest of the group, is only 15 years old but has
already rebuilt a 1-1/2 HP Fuller & Johnson Model N engine and
a beautiful Maytag engine.
A very striking feature I noticed about the Holderman family is
that they combine their hobby into a wonderful, wholesome family
activity. This is something we as collectors and restorers must do
for the future of our hobby, something that I’m sure Stan, Aleta,
Larry and Matthew are very much aware of.
Stan and Larry Holderman welcome any correspondence about the
collecting of vintage gas engines or other vintage equipment. They
can be reached at: (574) 267-4714; holdermanacres@kconline.com
Contact engine enthusiast Bob Crowell at: P.O. Box 103,
Batesville, IN 47006; (812) 934-4364;
vintageequipmags@yahoo.com
