Friday, May 23, 2014

I watched as I grew up around these men.

Edited: With the passing of my Father I revisit this post ...I don't think my Father ever saw this but here is the repost anyways.


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" Where Craftsmanship still matters!"



Hi, I'm Jim Weaver and I have been in the Home Improvement Industry since 1974. I grew up in the Midwest in the 60's.
Back then, Milwaukee, WI was a place " Where Craftsman still Cared !"
Times then were much like times have become today.
I guess my childhood memory of the economic hardtimes and surviving them made me proud.
Proud to be an American.
This must be why many years later as a young adult I named my company, Mainstreet USA.
I remember my Father, Anthony J. Weaver worked at American Motors at night and did siding during the day trying to make ends meet. A lot of times he did not get paid when the sign over the door where they got their jobs would change overnite. The same people would be sitting there at their desks doing the same job they always did, but today the company was "Northern" and yesterday it was "Colonial". John, the Boss man (always with a cigar in his mouth) would tell Rollie (my Dad's boss), "Sorry but that outfits gone, but here's another job". Rollie would always take that job in hopes of getting paid enough to feed the family. How Rollie paid the guys that worked for him I never knew until I went to work for him in 1974..... Sometimes he paid it himself !

I watched as I grew up around these men.

Between bouts of lay-offs at the plant the occured when Mitch Romney Senior ran out of enough cash to keep the line going, they would drive cabs or tow trucks by day and mop the floors at the local Ben Franklin at night. I remember they towed cars under the 16th Street Viaduct to the junk yard and Sam the Junkman paid them $5 for each car they delivered. No one ever quit, no matter what the conditions.

I worked alongside these men and they taught me many lessons. They were my heroes and they gave me the greatest gift any man can give another - A Work Ethic. It is in that tradition that I have carried on for the past 35 years and now I want to say "Thank You!" to my Father, Rollie, my Uncle Jerry, Dave Wade, my Uncle Mick, and all the men that had a hand in my upbringing.

They may not of been the best examples but they were my examples.

Jim Weaver President

1 comment:

  1. A great work ethic is indeed something to be proud of! Kind of hard to find these days.

    ReplyDelete