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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-03-09, Page 3Vincents ce In 1923, .a farmer turned blacksmith's helper pushed a wheelbarrow full of farm implement parts up the main street of Ayr, Ontario, and right into a successful career as an International Harvester dealer. This year the company he built celebrates its 65th year in business. The man's name was Les Vincent, and his street sales not only led to his signing an In- ternational Harvester contract, but to the formation of the farm implement company, now known as Vincent's Farm Equipment Ltd., that has not only grown in size over the years, but in reputation as well. Mr. Vincent retired in 1955, but Vincent Farm Equipment Ltd., lives on at the hands of his sons, Warren and Marlen. Predictably there have been a number of changes since 1923. Not only has the Ayr operation change sites and expanded over the years, but Vincent Farm Equipment Ltd. now operates as well out of Cambridge, Seaforth and Woodstock. 1965 saw the real expansion of the Vincent operations when Warren and Marlen took over the Galt Lawn and Garden Supply dealership and turned it Into another IH operation. The same year the brothers in- corporated the business, with Marlen runn- ing the Cambridge plant. The Seaforth branch was established in March 1968 with the purchase of the John Bach Ili Farm Equipment business, located on that part of Seaforth's Main Street which now houses Ginette's Restaurant, Seaforth Plumbing and Heating and the Employment Centre for the Disadvantaged. A display lot was located across the street in the lot which is now the Knechtel's Food Market. In 1971 Vincents purchased 11 acres of land one mile north of town in McKillop township and began construction on a new 8,400 square foot building to house the Seaforth operation. It was opened officially on Thursday, March 30, 1972. Business continued to expand and by 1975 Vincents had constructed another building, measuring 5,000 square feet, which was us- ed as a set up and display centre, leaving the old building free to be used exclusively to service customer needs. In 1978 Vicents opened a Woodstock dealership, but continued to expand in its other operations. In January 1981 Vincents started con- struction on yet a third building in Seaforth, a service centre measuring 15,000 square feet, which included an inside wash bay big enough to allow Vincents to pull in a semi load of equipment, and bay doors large enough to allow even the biggest piece of farm machinery in Huron and Perth coun- ties, to enter. "We had to fill the demand of our customers wanting extra service," said Mr. Vincent. "We found we had to build a new service centre and increase our parts stock room - for growing service need.". THE HURON EXPOSITOR, MARCH 9,1988 — 3 ebrates 65 years in implement business "Our strength is our employees." Mr. Vincent said the new service centre made the Vincent staff more efficent, since its roominess ensured all work could be done inside - if the weather did not permit it to be done outdoors. New and modern facilities helped to make Vincent's what it is today, but it was much more than that. "Our strength is our employees," he said about the Seaforth outlet, adding he's been fortunate to have had the best employees right from the time Vincents decided to locate in this town. At that time Ken Coleman, Glen McClure, ,Jack Malcolm, Clarence Dale and Dennis Nolan (now deceased), all employees of the previous IIB dealer, were hired on by Vincents. Sixteen years later three of those initial employees are still with the firm, strengthening, according to Mr. Vincent, the Vincent Farm Equipment Ltd. Image. "Business has expanded because of our service to the customer," said Mr. Vincent, adding his employees are trained on everything from diesel and gas engines, power shifts, monitors and tractor com- puters to highly sophisticated hydraulics. In the service department itself one man has his Class A mechanics license, another his heavy duty certificate, five have their farm equipment mechanic papers, and four have small, enginecertificates. "If you don't have the service you don't have the buyers. They work together. If you don't service a customer's needs sales won't happen," said Mr. Vincent. All employees are encouraged to take schooling in courses that develop personal abilities and human relations. "They've got to have enthusiasm. They've got to bubble. Our desire is to serve the peo- ple with a dedicated and good staff of employees," said Mr. Vincent. Mr. Vincent said he feels he's got that in his current staff of 24. Clarence Dale, manager and Glen Mc- Clure, assistant manager head up the ser- vice centre. With them are Bill Campbell, Gary Van Poucke, Doug Fuhr, Stewart Ban- nerman, Pat DeJong, Bob Argyle, Ray Cook, Dave Mitton and Tim McGregor. Mike Blake, manages the Parts Depart- ment and is helped by Eldon Schade, Jim McNichol and Barry Vincent. Ken Coleman, is the manager of the Sales Department. Peter VandeBorne and Bryan Vincent round out that department. Five women, Cathy Corden, Colleen Fischer, Faye Upshaw, Ann Bosnian and Mr. Vincent's wife Jane help out at all CHARITABLE DONATION - The Hospital Expansion Fund is $2,587.50 richer this week thanks to two donations. The first, in the amount of $2,500, represents the amount raised at the Celebration '88 Night and Celebrity Dinner. Graham Nesbitt, Arena Manager, and Marty Bedard, Recreation Director, organizers of that event, made a presentation of a cheque last week to Fred Tilley, Chairman of the Hospital Board. Mr. Nesbitt also presented Mr. Tilley with a cheque for $87.50 from the Com- munity Centres' Booster Club. That amount represented the money that would have or- dinarily been charged for kitchen rental and use of place settings for the dinner. Mcllwraith photo. Province should decide issue McKillop Township Council has indicated it believes the Sunday shopping issue should be decided at the provincial level. At its March meeting the council endorsed a resolution from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario that it is contrary to the interests of all municipalities in On- tario to include the matter of open Sunday shopping as a referendum item on a municipal ballot. In other business, the council received correspondence from the Walton Women's Institute urging the municipality to "investigate, instigate, and implement" a newspaper, glass and tin recycling pro- gram. The Walton W.I.'s concern for the Walton waste disposal site comes as a result of a resolution passed by the Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario. Township of- ficials will be in touch with Grey Township (where the landfill site is located) in the near future to discuss this issue. There were two applications for land severances of 100 acre lots. James Maloney would like W sea 1W acres un r, wn. 0; and Cor DeCorte has a 100 acre lot on Lot 33, Con. 3 for sale. The severances were both approved by the township council and must now be approved by the Huron County Land Division. Tile drainage loans for $13,500 were ap- proved, and the road voucher amounted to $30,354.44. A gravel tender for the maintenance of the township's roads for 1988 was awarded to Donegan's Haulage Ltd. The tender went for $85,700 and includes the crushing, hauling and spreading of gravel. A letter from the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association was received, and it outlines some rules and regulations concerning the planting of wind breaks on private land adjacent to municipal right of ways. The recommendation to property owners is windbreaks be set back 500 feet from the road to prevent the buildup of snow causing drifting. The road superintendent is to be contacted prior to the planting of any windbreaks. Council restructuring reviewed Huron County Council has recommend- ed further study on an advisory commit- tee's report on the restructuring of county government. The committee made 36 recommenda- tions that would alter the structure and responsibilities of County Council. Council recommended that recommen- dations 2-36 be adopted and that John Eakins, Minister of Municipal Affairs, be advised legislation be enacted as quickly as possible to implement the recommendations. The first recommendation calls for a review of very small municipalities and separated municipalities. The committee suggested the number of electors needed to entitle a municipality to deputy reeve in- crease from 1,000 to 2,500. Other recommendations include: having local mayors sit on county council; the ti- tle of reeve and deputy reeve be abolished and if the town is entitled to a second representative, the title would be local or county councillor; the head of county coun- cil have the title county chairman rather than warden; counties be provided with permissive authority to assume any local municipal function the county does not currenty perform where there is a two- thirds vote of county council. Reeve Mickle was adamant that he could not accept the proposals. He hoped there Turn to page 5A levels. Bryan Vincent, Mr. Vincent's eldest son, previously with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, where he held various administrative and credit positions in Southern Ontario - including one as an of- ficer in the Regional Agricultural Depart- ment, joined the family business in 1984 and works in the Seaforth sales department. His younger brother Barry joined the Seaforth business in the fall of 1987 after working one year at the Ayr operation. Mr. Vincent, a firm believer of involve- ment in the community, is proud that his employees are for the most part, very in- volved in and around Seaforth. "I believe they are very community - minded people. Several have helped with or played on sports teams, are involved with Junior Farmers, have given leadership in 4-H, Junior Farmers and service clubs, and are active in their church. They do a lot of things besides just work here (at Vincents)," he said. And so does their boss. A self -professed lover of community.work Mr. Vincent is a member of the Seaforth Community Hospital Board and Chairman of its Hospital Expansion Fundy He was chairman of the Community Centres fundraising commit- tee; is Past Master of the Masonic Lodge; Past President of the Seaforth Lions; a Shriner and member of the Mocha 'hikers; and a member of Northside United Church. He loves music and is a member of the Har- mony Kings and the Vocal Agreement Quartette. He also likes to fly in his spare time. One can imagine there isn't much spare time. In connection with his business Mr. Vincent sits on the Dealer's Council for In- ternational Harvester and Case Interna- tional and is a member of the Board of Farm Equipment Dealers Association of Ontario. "It keeps me abreast of the changing times," he said. And there have been plenty of those. There have been a number of changes in far- ming since Les Vincent first started in business - one of which has been the com- puter. The computer first made its way into the Vincents operation nine years ago, and in September 1987 ;the four stores went on line with each other. Thatmeans each store is able to find out, for example, what stock is available at the other stores. "I've seen everything from a 120 tractor that my dad sold right up to the latest now, the new magnum line - the most advanced of farm technology in the world: I've also seen the innovation of the axle -flow combine from the traditionally standard combine. I remember the thrashing machines my dad sold - that I helped service - there have just been so many changes - and positive changes." Mr. Vincent also remembers a time when equipment used to be brought into Seaforth by rail car. Today, because the equipment is 65 YEARS OLD - Vincent's Farm Equipment Ltd. has grown quite a bit in the 65 years since it was started in Ayr by L.C. Vincent. The company has expanded and now has locations in Cambridge, Seaforth and Woodstock, as well as Ayr. Marlen Vincent of Seaforth, son of the company's founder, and his brother Warren run the family business. Mcllwraith photo. made in Hamilton and not the United States, the equipment is transported primarily by truck. "I've seen a lot of changes in 20 years. I've seen more farm equipment dealers get into the business and I've seen a few go out of business," he said. Three years ago International Harvester amalgamated with Case International and the result has been even more improved ser- vice and product line available to the customers. Although Vincent Farm Equipment Ltd. has no immediate plans for further expan- sion, Mr. Vincent said he is optimistic business will continue to grow. "Whatever we've done with the business we couldn't have accomplished without the dedicated employees. Our success all circles around people." "I think if the right opportunity comes along that we can get into another dealer- ship we would expand. I have enough con- fidence in the community that we would think nothing of expanding. We would welcome it." While Vincents in general celebrates Its 65th year in business in 1988, its Seaforth branch will celebrate its 20th on March 15. Local team assembled Streetscape design looks at improvements The streets of Sdaforth"will be taking on a new appearance in the near future, as Seaforth's design team for the streetscape project has assembled and will soon be mak- ing plans for improvements. The streetscape project came about when the Town of Seaforth was given a grant from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs last year. If the municipality puts up $100,000 for im- provements to Seaforth's streets, they will receive an equal amount in the form of a PRIDE grant. This money can be used for anything from benches and signs to sidewalk im- provements. The streetscape design com- mittee will be looking at exactly what the problem areas are in Seaforth and try to determine how the money will be best spent. There were a number of people from the community who expressed an interest in the design team, but currently there are five committed members. They are Donna Pearce, Paul Vandermolen, Paul Hagan, Peg Campbell, and Tom Lemon. In addition to this there are five more people who have expressed interest in the streetscape pro- gram, but aren't able to promise their time to the effort. The team has met only once to date, so they have a long way to go before concrete evidence of their work will be seen on the town's streets. The first meeting for the most part involved getting acquainted with the project and looking at slides of what other municipalities have done to improve their streets. Already some ideas have come up, such as cleaning up the back alleys, and Goderich airport gets grant increase Goderich Sky Harbour Municipal Air- port requested County Council increase their maintenence grant for 1988 from $15,000 to $20,000. The Town of Goderich's proposed deficit at the airport this year is anticipated at $54,000 on top of the re- quested funding. Council voted in favour of an amended motion and granted the airport $15,000. The original proposal called for a grant of $15,000 in 1988 and that the grant be decreased by $5,000 in 1989 and 1990, eliminating the grant in 1991. Many councillors spoke in favour of sup- porting the airport. "The airport brings business people into the county who will provide business op- portunities," said Reeve David Johnston of Bayfield. Reeve Prout of Usborne Township felt the airport is an advantage to the whole county and the airport is needed. "Goderich Airport is essential for growth," he said. Deputy Reeve John Doherty suggested the county grant should be a percentage of the airport's annual operating loss. Johnston Said he would like to see the grant increased to $20,000. Council amended the resolution to eliminate the $5,000 decreases in funding in 1989 and 1990 because they did not want to make decisions for the new County Council next year. Last year council tried to eliminate the grant, but agreed to contribute $15,000 towards the airport's operation on the urg- ing of Doherty. 0 making accessible public washrooms. Tom Lemon, who is acting as chairman for the design team until one is elected, says in the upcoming meetings they are going to have to take a look at all the improvements that need to be done and come up with a firm pian for implementing these improvements. The team 'must be very conscious of their budget, and if the work that needs to be done amounts to more than the project's budget can handle, the improvements could be done in stages spread over six to eight years. This would allow the town to apply for more grants. If they have a set plan for how these grants are going to be spent, they are more likely to receive funding. Design professionals will probably be hired to assist the team, and at its first meeting the team approved the terms of reference which have been since sent to seven architectural and landscape architec- tural firms. The team also hopes to create oppor- tunities for public input. "I know there are some people in town who have clear ideas of what they would like to see, and there are people in town who have ideas of what they would not like to see," says Mr. Lemon. So there will be two public meetings held in which the citizens of Seaforth will be able to voice their opinions. After the first meeting the design professionals will put something on paper so people see what their ideas look Re, and another meeting will be held to see which ideas meet with the most public favor. While the streetscaping project may take many years to be completed in its entirety, the design team hopes to have something physical -that shows some improvement- by the end of this year. The next meeting of the design team will be March 24. COMMUNITY CALENDAR II you're organizing a non-profit event of interest to other Seaforth area residents, phone the recreation othce at 527.0882 or the Expositor at 527.0240, or mail the information to Communi- ty Calendar. The Huron Expositor, Box 69. Seaforth, Ontario, NOK two well in advance of the scheduled dale. Space for the Community Calendar is donated b The Huron Expositor. Wed. Mar. 9 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. Yoga at S.D.C.C. 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Moms and Tots Skating 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard, Table Tennis, Carpet Bowling 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. TWeen Ringette 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Minor Hockey (Team Unknown) 6:30 p.m. Seaforth Horticultural Society Potluck Supper & Meeting - Please bring dishes d cutlery. Everyone Welcome. 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Parents' Night OPEN HOUSE - S.D.H.S. 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. Minor Broomball 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Wood Carving at S.D.H.S. Thurs. Mar: 10 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Fitness is Fun 12:00 Noon Book Club at Seaforth Library. Everyone Welcome. 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Novice Practice 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Bantam Practice 7:30 • 9:30 p.m. Basketball at S.D.H.S. 7:30 - 12:30 a.m. Men's Broomball Fri. Mar. 11 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Senior Houseleague Practice 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Junior Houseleague Practice 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Minor Hockey (Team Unknown) 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Junior Ringette Sat. Mar12 8:30 a.m. Oilers vs. North Stars 9:30 a.m. Canadians vs. Bruins 10:30 a.m. Whalers vs. Leafs 11:30 a.m. Flyers vs. Jets 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Mites 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Petite, Bunny, Novice Ringette 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Story Hour at the Library 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. PUBLIC SKATING 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Novice - Possible Playoff Game 5:00 - 6:15 p.m. Atom - Possible Playoff Game 6:15 - 8:00 p.m. Game Sun. 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Playoff Game 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Playoff Game 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Playoff Game 8:00 - 9:30 p.m. 9:30 - 11:00 p.m Mon PeeWee - Possible Playoff Mar. 13 Atom II Practice Petite Ringette - Possible 1Mreen Ringette • Possible Junior Ringette - Possible Bruins vs. Hawks . Penguins vs. Flyers . Mar. 14 9:00 a.m. MARCH S.D.C.C. 1:00-4:00p.m. 4:30 - 8:30 p.m. 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Tues. BREAK PROGRAM - PUBLIC SKATING Figure Skating Wood Refinishing Mar. 15 9:00 a.m. March Break Program 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Fitness is Fun 1:30 p.m. Movies at Seaforth Library. Ages 5 and Up. Free Admission. 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. PeeWee 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Bantam 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. Midget Wed. Mar. 16 9:00 a.m. March Break Program 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Vega at S.D.C.C. 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Moms and Tots Skating 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. Tween Ringette 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Atom I Practice 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Wood Carving at S.D.H.S. 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. - Mixed Adult Volleyball - 8.0.11.5. Huron County Federation Member Meeting for March - Ontario St. Church, Clinton Speaker: Doug Grant Manager of Agriculture Employment Services. (Formerly Farm Labour Pool) Thurs. Mar. 17 11:00 a.m. Balloon Workshop at Seaforth Library. Ages 8 to 12. Please pre -register.