'Candy Man' has one sweet ride

POTSDAM — Soon, before the snow flies, Gordon A. Hartle will slowly drive his 1902 Ford into its winter berth, where it will await its 83-year-old owner's springtime commands to fire itself up and hit the road again.

Mr. Hartle's destination will be trips to the store and other errands, but his main drive is to lighten the emotional load of others. He and the vehicle, which he purchased two years ago, are a common sight in this village. It's no problem to ask him for a ride.

"Anybody who asks for a ride, I'll take them," he said. "It cheers them up and washes the gloominess away from people's faces, especially during this recession."

He'll also share candy he carries with himwith anyone, on or off the vehicle. But his main destination is the Potsdam P&C, where he shares the treats with customers and clerks.

"I'm Potsdam's 'Candy Man,'" he laughs. "I guess that's what you get to do when you retire. I've always been part of a showman. When the weather is nice, I like to get out and stretch my legs."

He doesn't mind if he seems a bit eccentric.

"I'm a half-entertainer anyway," he said.

Each year, the May Road resident and Marine veteran of the Korean War travels to more than a dozen parades around the north country with his 1902 Ford and other vehicles he's tinkered with.

"I think I've been to more parades in St. Lawrence County than anyone," he said.

The farthest he's been is to Lacona in Oswego County, where on the same day he sold to an admirer a "four-wheeled bicycle" he designed and manufactured.

Mr. Hartle, who retired in 1988 after a career in construction and as a salesman for Evans & White True Value Hardware, Potsdam, is an inventive man, a fact also evident by the contraption in the backyard of the home he shares with his wife, Beverly J.

In 1991, he completed a two-year solo project to build a 7-foot-tall concrete water fountain weighing 2 tons. He built it mainly because he enjoys the sound of running water.

"I got that covered for the winter now," Mr. Hartle said. "It takes two men an hour or more to cover it. It's 20 feet around at the base."

In his garage, Mr. Hartle has a miniature vehicle he calls his version of a 1902 Oldsmobile. "It's built mainly out of old lawnmower parts," he said.

In the Times files, a 1958 photo shows a smiling Mr. Hartle waving from an air boat at Hannawa Falls flow. "The boat created great interest as motorists along the highway parked for more than a mile along the shoreline to view it," the Times reported.

It took Mr. Hartle 350 hours to build the craft, designed to glide over the water on pontoons and propelled by an air propeller.

He ended up trading the boat for some land near Norwood Pond, where he built a home.

"I lived there for a good many years," he said.

A few years ago, Mr. Hartle developed a hankering for a really old car.

"I put the bug in the ear of a friend," Mr. Hartle said. "I said, 'If you happen to come across an old car, let me know.'"

In 2007, Mr. Hartle bought the 1902 Ford from the estate of Henry E. "Hank" Monroe, who was a car collector and a member of the Old Car Weekly Car Club. Mr. Hartle said he knew Mr. Monroe from parades. Mr. Hartle bought the vehicle, which has a tiller instead of a steering wheel, for $2,500 from one of Mr. Monroe's sons.

"I'm going by what he told me," Mr. Hartle said. "As far as I know, it's original."

But the vehicle doesn't have its original engine. He said he was told that if it did, it would be worth almost $1 million. A previous owner took out its crank starter and installed an electric starter.

"I'm 83 years old," he said. "I can't be cranking anyway."

The car can go up to 35 mph. It's insured and licensed and registered with the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Its gas tank holds two gallons.

"I can drive it all day on a tank of gas," he said.

He tries to drive it as late into the fall as he can, before it gets too cold and it finds its seasonal home in a covered trailer on his property.

"But I do work up a sweat driving it," he said. "You have to pay attention to it every second you drive it."

Mr. Hartle said he's also careful to obey traffic rules, such as stopping at crosswalks.

"I do things a gentleman should do," he said.