KINGMAN — Kingman resident Harley Dressler is a veteran that has been disabled since 1998 and last Friday, he decided to give back to the community he’s loved for so many years. He called up fellow Pharoah car club member and high school welding instructor, Cody Price, and told him that he wanted to donate all his welding tools to the high school.
“It’s going to a good cause and I’m proud to be able to do that,” Dressler said. It was important to Dressler that he do it now while he still can. He says he’s following the old adage: Do your giving while you’re living so you’re knowing where it’s going.
Dressler thinks more car enthusiasts should consider donating their things as they get older. “There’s a lot of car guys in town that are getting up in age, too,” he said. “Their wives don’t know what to do if they pass away—they’re stuck with all of it. So my suggestion is, hey, think about donating it to the school.”
Principal Isaiah Ward says the donations are always welcome and very much appreciated. The school has been holding fundraisers to eventually obtain a 10,000–12,000-pound four-post lift for the shop. Price says his students are working on a ’69 Thunderbird, as well as an early 1940s Harvester, and a lift would make projects like this much easier for students.
Dressler’s welding tools will save the class thousands of dollars, Price says, and are no small contribution. Ward, Price, and student Kenny Whitton, showed up on a cool Friday morning with a trailer to haul away the tools.
Dressler donated two welders—a wire-feed welder and an older stick welder—as well as a bench drill press, a grinder, and a Sawzall. A table saw was also donated, which will likely go to the school’s wood shop class.
Price says that more equipment means more stations for students to use. While most of the tools will be additions to tools the school already has, the bench drill press will be a new tool for students to use since the one they have doesn’t presently work.
If anyone interested in donating equipment, or would like more information about KHS’s welding shop, email Cody Price at cprice@kusd.org.
