Page 10> Halton Hills This Week; Home and:Garden; Wednesday, Aprit21; 1993) Lawn trimmer has become a fixture in Chances are that when you groomed your lawn 20 years ago, you were crawling around along sidewalk edges, next to flower beds, and around tree trunks with a Pair of scissors or bladed shears in your hands. The object of your mis- sion: snipping off the tops of those pesky, unsightly stray blades of grass and weeds the lawn mower couldn’t reach. Fortunately, in 1972, sore backs and scraped knees became a thin; of the past, when a businessman, looking for a solution to his person- al grass-clipping nightmare, discov- ered a simple, yet superbly efficient answer: a motor-driven, spinning nylon line that would neatly and quickly slice through grass with minimal time and effort. Today, Weed Eater brand trim- mers are undoubtedly the most pop- ular handheld outdoor power tools in existence. The Weed Eater string trimmer spawned an industry accounting for the sale of almost 60 million units during the ‘last 20 ITS MY BUSINE TODD SIMPSON #5 CALEDON EAST.ONTARIO LON1E0 __ Specializing in home & farm insurance ~Personalized'service ~- Full Replacement costavailable for dwelling - farm buildings Discounts available Payment Plans SERVICE ISN'T JUST MY NAME | SS 1-800-268-4393 SERVING HALTON HILLS FOR OVER 8 YEARS many sheds years. To appreciate the tool most North Americans now take for granted, one must consider its hum- ble beginnings. The idea for a nylon-line trimmer was bom when George Ballas drove through an automatic car wash. Watching the whirling, stiff-looking nylon bris- tles clean every crevice of his car without damaging the paint or body, he began wondering if he Could use the same principle to trim the grass around trees’ roots and trunks without damaging their bark. Rushing home, he dug through the trash and found a discarded tin popcorn can. He punched holes around the perimeter of the can, threaded short lengths of knotted nylon fishing line through it to sim- ulate the cleaning brushes at the car wash and attached it to the rotary on his metal-bladed lawn edger. Within seconds after starting the engine, the spinning nylon lines had neatly sliced through the tall strands of grass adjacent to a tree. Without hesitation, Ballas dubbed his invention “Weed Eater,” a memorable name that has since become one of the most rec- ognized brands in America. Ballas spent the next two years working with marketing, engineer- ing and production specialists arge easy-access air filter * Built-in hanger/stand *30.2 cc; 11.7 Ibs. without iting head and deflector FS-44 30.2 cc; 12.3 Ibs. ithout cutting ‘ « Buil-in hanger/stand Fully lined curved shaft * Flow-through primer FS-81AVE *23.cc engine; 13.9 Ibs. without + Adjustable "J" handle + Antivibration syst FS-86AVRE # 25.4 0c engine; 15.0 Ibs. without cutting head and + Light in weight + Easily accessible rols S41 g-% $709" GEORGETOWN Rent-All INC 884 Guelph St. Georgetown 877-0157 developing and refining gas-and- lectric-p d versions of his Product. As is the case with many new concepts, he found retailers slow to stock an unusual product. He took his idea straight to the pub- lic by running television ads. The tremendous response led Ballas to Tun a commercial-on the Super Bowl telecast. From that day for- ward, people began clamoring for Weed Eater trimmers, sales subse- quently skyrocketed, and Weed Eater became a household name. Only $12.84 (including taxes) + receive 2 FREE signs. Enquire about our rain insurance. only 12" (includes taxes) Think SOFT! Think SAFE! 66 CALL US AT Think CLEAN! Think PROFESSIONAL! Culligan is the Canadian Leader in: * Water Treatment * Service * Dependability Ask about our specials ust 894°" Hey! cyiliGa ™ ~— &eytlicaN N Purchase Lease-to-own Rentals 519Area: 1-800-463-3622 Georgetown: 874-3044