Eye of the beholder

October 28, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

BUTTE - A multitude of interesting relics and humorous collections at Boot Hill Auto Salvage in the Butte catch the eyes of drivers-by.

An antique Ferris wheel stretches upward like a skyscraper above neatly parked classic vehicles. A metal knife sticks through a wooden pole holding the wires that carry electricity to the property. A man carved from wood pushes a dog sled and waves the Alaska flag.

Some folks are even compelled to pull into Ron Fellman's yard and check it out.

As a tour guide, Fellman welcomes those people. He offers history lessons, masters puns and other forms of humor, and shares his reverence for vintage vehicles.

&#8220These cars and all this stuff out here are dinosaurs. Look at all the plastic running around on the roads these days,” Fellman, 71, said Wednesday.

Writing on the shop's walls says &#8220No rice spoken here,”

referring to what he calls &#8220rice rockets” - Japanese-made motorcycles.

&#8220I don't have anything that hooks up to a computer,” he said, adding that all of his cars predate the 1970s. He owns one Nash, five DeSotos, six Packards, a '61 Cadillac hearse and a shiny teal-colored '59 El Camino driven occasionally by his wife, Charlie.

The couple shares a love of puns. They have clever names for things in their yard.

A tiny trailer with sleeping quarters for two and a compact kitchen hidden in the trunk area is lovingly nicknamed the &#8220stay-free mini-pad.”

A three-wheeled 1947 Dodge, which pulled their trailer on a 10,000-mile cross-country trip, is called the &#8220something else Alaskan.” It's etched with drawings of things familiar to the Last Frontier, and every time someone looks at it they say, &#8220That's something else.”

&#8220Now, it's a lawn ornament,” Charlie said.

An open trailer with rows of seats that can be pulled by a bike is referred to as a &#8220buck-a-butt.” Ron takes it to the Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival to cart people around, and charges a dollar a ride.

A canoe that's no longer water worthy provides a home for flowers. It's been ordained the &#8220holey canoe.”

Several antique metal bed frames sit in the yard, filled with fall-frosted soil and dried foliage.

&#8220These are my flower beds,” Ron said.

&#8220I grow strawberries in one. I call it my bed and breakfast,” Charlie said. &#8220If we start collecting something, people bring more.”

People show up with things headed for the landfill and ask the Fellmans if they want to add those things to their yard.

Ron said he enjoys the opportunity to get creative with his yard, as well as recycling different vehicles to create something entirely new and exciting to view.

&#8220People get the wrong idea. This isn't a junkyard. It's a classic-car auto salvage yard,” he said.

The couple met in Tucson, Ariz., after Charlie visited the bike shop where Ron worked.

They came to Alaska in 1980 to spend a summer looking for gold to spend during winters in Arizona.

&#8220It never panned out,” Ron joked.

One romantic Christmas, Charlie bought Ron a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. Ron's father, who was a gravedigger, could never afford the much-coveted gift for his son. In return - just as in the movie &#8220The Christmas Story” - Ron created a fishnet-clad leg lamp for his wife.

They lived together for four years and one day before they tied the knot, Charlie said, and will celebrate their 24-year wedding anniversary Nov. 13.

Ron is a big fan of the number 13, which he said has only brought him good things. He married Charlie on Friday the 13th. They came to Alaska in a 1958 Buick.

&#8220What is five plus eight? Thirteen. Charlie and I met in 1976. What's seven plus six? Thirteen. I rest my case,” Ron said.

The 2-acre lot where he lives is located at Mile 13 Old Glenn Highway. He bought the property in 1983. It ended up in the hands of a developer after Valley Cemetery no longer needed it. The structure below their home was where concrete crypts were built, and bodies were stored there until the ground thawed enough for burial, Ron said.

The Fellmans use one of the old structures as a winter game room and knife-sharpening room.

Charlie says a spirit named Spike visits them. &#8220You'll smell fresh-brewed coffee, and we don't brew coffee. He likes to steal stuff, too,” she said.

The couple said their ghosts are happy ones.

&#8220We'll join them some day,” Ron said. &#8220As long as you get up on the right side of the ground, it's a great day.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at

352-2252, or dawn.debusk@ frontiersman.com.