Jun. 15—Tom and Kay Mellert missed their chance nearly 30 years ago to salvage a piece of Mellert family history.

It was a hunk of metal, part of the loading dock of a prominent downtown Reading building — the site of the defunct Pomeroy's department store at Sixth and Penn streets. Demolition of the building began in April 1995 to make way for the Meridian Bancorp headquarters.

Tom's surname was cast in a metal strip known as a dock bumper, an appendage that reduced wear and tear from up-and-down movement of trucks.

"At the time, a friend of ours was working for Empire Wrecking and they were doing the demolition of that building," Kay recalled. "When he saw the bumper with the name on the bottom, he reached out to us.

"Unfortunately, we could not coordinate getting it before they had it removed."

Tom's great-grandfather Otto Mellert founded the Reading foundry in the 19th century.

The Mellert Foundry and Machine Co. began as a stove works in the 1840s. Located at Second, Chestnut and Grape streets, it began manufacturing pipes for water systems and Reading Railroad cars in the latter part of the 19th century.

Kay, who has a strong interest in local history, gathered as much information as she could about the Mellert Foundry and Tom's family but yearned for a tangible connection, a relic they could display at their home.

Although she knew the Mellert Foundry produced fire hydrants — the Mellert hydrant was patented in 1890 — those were long ago replaced with newer models. Many were scrapped, and some ended up under several feet of soil as properties were excavated during redevelopment projects.

Still, as with almost anything from yesteryear, some have been preserved by collectors.

About 10 years ago, Kay started her search for a Mellert hydrant, but she spun her wheels until June 2020, when a neighbor who is a retired Reading firefighter suggested she contact the Reading Area Firefighters Museum.

She followed that lead and got in touch with Ralph Bascelli, a member of the museum board, saying she wanted to surprise her husband by acquiring a hydrant for their collection of Mellert family mementos.

"At that time I didn't have an available hydrant, so I promised I would keep an eye out for one, as they are extremely rare," Bascelli said in an email.

Bascelli, who was a firefighter for 30 years in Birdsboro before retiring from the active fire service, has been collecting and restoring hydrants for a decade.

His first Mellert hydrant had been ripped out in front of the Edward Brooke II Mansion in Birdsboro, not far from Bascelli's home in the borough. He said borough workers had tossed the old hydrant over the embankment.

He asked the property owners if they wanted it, and they said he could take it. The hydrant is now in the Berks History Center.

Two other Mellert hydrants that Bascelli has salvaged are part of exhibits in the firefighters museum at South Fifth and Laurel streets. They were unearthed by a bulldozer in a salvage yard near Stowe, Montgomery County, and someone contacted him, knowing he was a collector.

Bascelli has restored and sold a number of non-Mellert hydrants as well, donating part of the proceeds to the firefighters museum.

"It's just a fun hobby for me that is fire service-related," he said. "It keeps me out of bars. I just watch the paint dry with a glass of iced tea. I tell my wife it's great therapy."

Bascelli learned through the collectors' grapevine that a man in Enola, located in Cumberland County just across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg, had a couple of Mellert hydrants remaining from his collection. He had sold both to a collector in North Carolina.

Bascelli agreed to swap two non-Mellerts from his collection with the North Carolina collector for one of the Mellerts.

On April 22, he drove his pickup truck to Enola to retrieve the hydrant and took it to his garage, where he spruced it up while working out the delivery date and details with Kay, who paid Bascelli a sum that covered his expenses, including travel.

Kay was intent on surprising her husband with the relic.

Early on the evening of May 18, Bascelli and his wife, MaryEllen, who also serves on the board of the firefighters museum, left their Birdsboro home for Pennside with the cargo strapped to the bed of their truck.

Kay called for Tom to come out when Bascelli unloaded the hydrant.

Tom said he was wondering what she was up to when she left the house and didn't quite know what to make of two people he didn't know delivering a very old hydrant to his home.

Kay told him it was a Mellert hydrant.

"It was a 10-year adventure," she said proudly. "And Ralph, here, came to the rescue."

Tom, 65, retired in April after 13 years as a clerk at a state liquor store following a number of years working for a developer as a construction/facilities manager.

One of his hobbies is gardening, so the hydrant is destined for the backyard, next to Tom's garden shed.

"I think it's gonna have a permanent residence down by the shed," Kay said. "There's an antique chair there. It should be near his stuff."

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