Eddie Vedder displays firetruck at museum

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SPOKANE, Wash., Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder's 1927 firetruck -- a gift from actor Sean Penn -- can be seen at the Ferry County Auto and Truck Museum in Washington state.

Vedder paid to have the fully restored American La France firetruck shipped to the museum this month, The (Spokane) Spokesman-Review reported.

Bob Whittaker, a Ferry County resident and a manager in the music business, said he has known Vedder for upward of 20 years and encouraged him to lend the firetruck to the museum.

"He was struggling with where to store it, and I suggested the Ferry County Car and Truck Museum," Whittaker said. "It was too good of an item to be mothballed or hidden away in some storage facility or garage somewhere."

Vedder's truck is now the oldest of the museum's three firetrucks, said museum President Larry Lembcke.

"We can use it in parades and stuff like that," Lembcke said. "It's completely restored."

Whittaker said this isn't the first time Vedder has used his rock stardom to help out Ferry County; several years ago, Vedder donated a signed ukulele, which was auctioned off for $17,000 on eBay.

"He's really supporting trying to help out little underdog Ferry County up here and get us some tourism," Whittaker said.