By Charley Holmes

The Montclair History Center came to JW Pierson Co in the late fall of 2018. That fall, when Pierson made the first oil delivery, it was discovered that the oil tank in the basement was leaking. The tank was quickly pumped out and a temporary tank was put in to get the center through the winter.

We also discovered that the boiler was in poor condition and leaking as well. With Mr. Pierson’s blessing, we gave them a quote for a new boiler & oil tank, at cost.

While they were grateful for the discounted price, they were not in a financial position to move forward, as they are a non-profit with six buildings to maintain, and they rely on donations and fundraisers to function.

At that point, I told them about Oil Heat Cares. We nursed the boiler through the winter and applied to Oil Heat Cares in the spring of 2019.

As usual, Oil Heat Cares came through. I announced the project at one of our monthly meetings and the hands went up to help. Tom Raulinavich from Energy Kinetics said he would get a boiler donated, Kevin Ball from Woolley Home Solutions and Paul Cuprewich from JW Pierson Co said they would supply the man power and I was able to secure a Granby Ecoguard fuel oil tank with the help of Bob Bruno from Venco Sales. Bob Harris from Top Hat & Tails Chimney Service said he would install the liner.

Carlos Rodriguez, Francisco Garcia and Jose Montanez from J.W. Pierson Company removed the old leaking oil tank from the basement and installed the new Granby tank on the right side of the building.

Kevin Ball, Ed Postol and Joe Feeley from Woolley Home Solutions installed the boiler with assistance from Tom Raulinavich & myself. And finally, Bob Harris from Top Hat & Tails Chimney Service installed the new chimney liner.

As you can see from their note of thanks, they were incredibly appreciative of our efforts.  Thank you to those who support Oil Heat Cares.