Comments from Facebook, March 2015: Larry Humphrey: It was not only a gas station but also it was a black smith shop and he did welding. This was also connected to his station. He lived in the rear of the station which was his house. His mother lived with him until she passed. Frank Andrews was his full name . DeeDee Kessell-Brechel: Yes, Frank Andrews was a friend of our family. He had one of those cools soda pop machines where I could get a orange pop. Larry Humphrey: My dad would get his welding done there for his logging equipment. I remember the two 55 gallon drums stacked that he made a stove out of and boy were they warm in the winter. He would throw oil soaked rags from used car oil in there to burn. I would run out side to look up at the black smoke from the oily rags a burnin. Larry Humphrey: One more story is this about Frank Andrews Filling Station. I am not sure what year it was but, probably about 1968?, an old grade school and high school friend by the name of Doug Lenzner come down the Apiary Road too fast and ran right over both of Frank's gas pumps and knocked them clean off their stands. Didn't blow up I guess, just wrecked them bad. Melvin Gamble: Spent a lot of time in there. At some point he added an oil dripper to that stove so all he had to do was keep oil in a reservoir and set a valve to keep an even fire burning. That was also more than a welding shop...he had the biggest metal lathe I've ever been near in there, could have turned truck axles on it. But that pop machine was my favorite. The bottles sat down in a bath of chilled water suspended by their necks from a track. You had to slide them around the track and up through a gate that your coin operated. His kitchen was the room behind the office and the door between was usually open...the office always smelled like bacon He was a real decent guy. Dan Elbert: He more than once welded up parts for our old Oliver hay bailer. Always had an interesting time there. Might be what got me into the metal trades. Contact me at Clarkmikew@aol.com for any questions Copyright 2017 |
