The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Page THE HERALD Wednesday September 13 1989 Armstrongs garage 50 years and going strong Study VIA publicly Burlington mayor says By HAZEL ARMSTRONG Herald Special At the intersection of Guelph Street and Maple Avenue stands an interesting chapter in Georgetowns commercial history remarkably little changed in ap pearance or character from the day it opened 50 years ago On Sept John Arm strong and his father Matthew started the Armstrong Garage on what was then known as the Guelph Highway The garage of fered general automotive repairs and Supertest gasoline to local car owners and intercity travellers John had been employed by On tarios largest General Motors dealer JN ONeill who was then located at the corner of Wesleyan and Main Streets in Georgetown Matthew Armstrong had recently been laid off from his job as foreman in charge of track laying for the Toronto Suburban Railway Their acquaintances and advisors considered them crazy to build so far out of town Whether it was sheer chance or canny foresightedness the Arm strongs chose well both in terms of location and vocation Matthew declared redundant by the railway that was itself to be swamped in the automotive tide abandoned the trade he had learned in the mines of Cumberland England and pur sued for most of his working life in the hard rock mines of Frank Alberta and on the Son John had taken up the trade of auto mechanic and at the time of his fathers layoff decided to start his own business Scouting the area they settled on George Munns potato field and purchased a piece of it for 50 The field however was substantially lower than the road level so father and son working at night hauled cinders from the railroad station to raise the lot to grade level Once that was accomplished they hired of Brampton to pour the floor do the block work and install the roof on the building which they then com pleted themselves Except for the replacement of shutters and roof ing the building stands today ex actly as it did in One of the first cars the new garage serviced in the fall of was that of the late Judge Kenneth His son Judge Ken- 26 Guelph St Georgetown Ont 8779896 Good service good coverage goodprice- Thats State Farm insurance Guelph St Georgetown 8731833 Like a good neighbor State Farm is there A now brings his car to the Armstrong Garage John and Matthew worked together at the corner of Guelph Street and Maple Avenue until 1953 when Matthew retired His place was taken by another son Art Armstrong who left the Dominion Seed House to join the family business Matthew Armstrong died in at the age of 85 assured of the continuation of the family business after seeing his grandson Dave join the firm in at the age of John Armstrong worked at the garage up to the day he died in at the age of 62 years Between and 1970 the automotive trade and Georgetown changed enormously When the province started certify ing car mechanics John Arm strong qualified uncpr the grand father clause The former potato field that was fob far out of town turned out to be located on one of the towns major crossroads and the parts one repaired in were being replaced in 1970 After his fathers death Dave Armstrong operated the garage in partnership with Art until June I960 when Art retired Since then Dave has run business as sole owner with the help of only one assistant mechanic and the occa sional coop student or summer gofer Daves immersion in the family trade started at the age of nine when he was given the job of sweeper and gofer after school Dave completed the provincial ap prenticeship program in with a 98 per cent graduating mark and earned from the Department of Labour top student honors for that year Canadas struggling national railway VIA Rail should come under public scrutiny Regional councillors decided at a meeting last week Councillors heard that VIA has undergone mass budget cuts and is now implementing a fiveyear plan of budgeting Some crosscountry fares have been sliced in half a Globe and Mail report said last week I recognize this as something that has tied our country together from the beginning and could tie us together in the future Burl ington Mayor Bird said There should be public hearings from coast to coast But Halton Hills Coun Joe Hewitt said Halton is taking a reactionary approach to the cost issue The sooner that rail service gets reorganized under the private industry the better well all be he said Burlington Coun Rob Forbes asked councillors if their support of public review of the national railway system wasnt a knee- jerk reaction Rail plays an im portant role in the urban communi ty Oakville Mayor Ann said VIA participation is something this Region should be involved in when we have to deal with that QEW Queen Elizabeth Way every day added Burlington Coun Walter Mulkewich Transportation involves government subsidy he said pointing to both the and Highway which joins Highway to the westbound QEW High way is undergoing a governmentfunded extension S7IfASiMKXlve The Igloo has landed The Igloo is an innovative addition to one of the most successful waste reduction programs in Ontario Halton will be placing these containers in strategic locations throughout the Region to collect the newspapers cans and bottles you cant conveniently take home to your Blue Box You wilt find Igloos in two distinctive shapes The traditional bell shape will be used to collect only one specified material The rectangular multicompartment unit will be used to collect a variety of recyclables You will find Igloos in Go stations for your newspapers Igloos in arenas and parks for soft drink cans and bottles Igloos in selected service stations and some apartments and for your newspapers cans glass and plastic soft drink bottles The Regional Municipality of and Stinnes Inc who have cooperated on this program like to think of the Igloo as Your Blue Box away from home They hope you do too Halton cares about the environment Because Halton is our environment