01/30/2026
It is with a heavy heart I make this post. On Wednesday the original owner and name sake to the shop passed on. If I'm remembering correctly Jim worked at a shop in Mt pleasant and was fired because he wanted to do things his way. His boss told him if you want to do things your way then open your own shop. So in 1964 he did. A 24x24 pole barn built by dewitt lumber on the corner of walton and Coldwater. It had chains in the floor for pulling, and a drain for washing. Everything happened in that space. Paint, bodywork, washing, everything. He later added on storage for a wrecker then again to add the Blackhawk in floor frame rack( one of the first in the state he would say). Thru the years he introduced many young men to the business and helped them develop. One of wich still works for me today.He built a great reputation and business. In 2000ish (my dates may be off a bit) he sold the shop to his son inlaw Ryan who ran it for a few years until he decided he wanted to pursue other endeavors. Ryan and I came to a deal and in may of 2004 I took over and got to know Jim. He would often come in and tell stories of the old days at the shop, borrow masking tape( I would say how do you borrow tape Jim? You going to put it back on the roll when ur done?) Talk about working on snowmobiles in the shop. Generally just slow down production!lol Talk about his girls growing up and running around in the shop,cars he built and so on. So now that he has passed and I'm getting older I think of my boys growing up in the shop and the chance Ryan and Jim took on me. I remember Jim telling me we never really own anything. We are just the caretaker while we are here. Well, I hope we take care of it as well as you did my friend. You will be missed.
