Taking a novel approach to promoting local history

Ghosts may be invisible, but that is not the case in La Conner.

After all, the Ghost of Tom Joad can be seen all over town and on social media.

That thanks to Tillinghast Drive resident Rick Dole, a U.S. Navy veteran who in retirement has launched a project blending his varied interests in auto mechanics, history and photography.

The Ghost of Tom Joad is the name Dole has given his vintage 1928 pickup, a converted Model A “Fordor” sedan, which he keeps in perfect running order for regular photo shoots in the La Conner area.

Dole’s truck is the centerpiece of his Where in La Conner is the Ghost of Tom Joad? pictorial feature that enjoys a devoted following among local Facebook users.

Dole parks the Ghost of Tom Joad near selected La Conner landmarks, placing it in the foreground of his shots. Intentionally blurred in the background are the venues that Dole asks posters to identify.

“It brings out a lot of local history,” Dole, who grew up in California and with wife Paulette bought a home in La Conner three years ago, told the Weekly News. “People will use a name from history (for the photo subject) and I only know the modern name.”

Dole’s choice of name for his truck is significant as well. It is a tribute to Paulette’s family, which was part of the epic Depression era migration from Oklahoma to California portrayed by author John Steinbeck in his Pulitzer Prize winning novel “The Grapes of Wrath.”

Tom Joad, the family’s patriarch, is the main character in the book, a role played by Henry Fonda in the film version of the story.

Dole bought The Ghost of Tom Joad just over a year ago. It reminded him of the truck fashioned from a Hudson Six sedan that the fictional Joad family drove more than 1,500 miles to the West Coast.

“I was thinking about how the truck represents the ‘Grapes of Wrath’ migration of Paulette’s family,” said Dole. “It’s my homage to them and how they did it.”

With painstaking care, Dole invests about 20 hours a month on The Ghost of Tom Joad, “tinkering around on it” in his immaculately organized garage. He has rebuilt the carburetor, done extensive rewiring and installed a new alternator. Sturdy side panels have been shaped from large pallet boards. A period hinged wooden toolbox rides in the truck’s bed.

Even before buying The Ghost of Tom Joad, the Doles took the long road to La Conner.

Rick, like Paulette, has roots in the Midwest. He is related to retired U.S. Senator and former GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole, a native of Russell, Kansas. His dad, a World War II veteran who survived Japanese kamikaze attacks at the famed Battle of Leyte, settled the family in California.

Rick was born in Long Beach and spent much of his youth in Taft, on the southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley. He decided to join the U.S. Navy after speaking to an older cousin who was a door gunner on a gunship helicopter.

“I knew then that I wanted to do something that involved flying,” Dole said.

He was assigned to flight crews aboard various aircraft, including carrier-based jets.

“It was a fun, exciting career,” he said.

During his service in the Navy, which included a stop at NAS-Whidbey, Dole earned a degree in civil engineering. He later returned to college to complete work on a degree in business information systems.

While residing in Everett, the Doles purchased a boat that was moored in La Conner.

“We spent weekends here,” he said, “and felt like locals doing that.”

Since moving here permanently and tooling around almost daily in The Ghost of Tom Joad they have covered plenty of ground in La Conner – both geographically and historically.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Dole said of his “Where in La Conner is the Ghost of Tom Joad?” photo series. “I always try to have a good clue in the background.”

The foreground, meanwhile, is reserved for a ghost quite comfortable with being in plain sight.