The new Handy Toyota in St. Albans, VT continues to build

Another week has passed in the world of Handy Toyota of St. Albans and as you can see from the picture above the steel frame is taking shape for the new Handy Toyota facility.  The weather has been challenging but I must say the crew working on this element is the best.  Pete Conroy is the foreman and we could not ask for better.  The frame may be pre-engineered but is it no simple task putting it all together.  We are so excited to witness the day to day progress.  Pete and his crew are working feverishly knowing what lies ahead weather wise.  Next week I am hoping to have a picture for you of a completely framed structure ready for roof and sidewall covering.  If the weather cooperates, I am quite confident they will be successful in achieving this time line.

Last evening our sister store, Handy Chevrolet, played host to a Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce mixer.  Based on the number of folks who attended I would rate the mixer a big success.  As I was looking around the room it felt good to see the many people that share working in our business community here in the greater Saint Albans, Vermont area.  We all have a lot in common and in the final analysis we are all in business together.  Each merchant, restaurateur, banker, real estate broker/salesperson, manufacturer, health care provider, professional person, etc. work with the same folks in the same general area and in our own unique ways in an attempt to reach out to drive our businesses in a successful manner.  What these mixers are all about is to put us all in contact in a social setting with the goal that we will have the opportunity to network to our mutual benefit.  That said, I would agree that it worked for me and my opinion would be that it worked for most of the folks that attended.  In the future I will attempt to attend more of these functions.

My plan is to work outside all weekend as we will not have many more weekends before snow and (I cannot wait!) ski season will start.  Smuggler's Notch traditionally opens the day after Thanksgiving and that is only a few short weeks away.  My gear is ready and it will be good to be on the mountain for another winter in beautiful Vermont.

My time is up for this morning.  See you next week.

The best!

Dan Luneau
Handy Toyota
St. Albans, VT  05478

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My angels arrive!

The girls arrived on schedule this past Wednesday and have been staying with Karen along with their parents Annie and Peter.  Annie's brother Tommy is being married this afternoon so it is not a surprise when I say that everyone's schedule has been stretched a bit thin over the past few days.  Annie and Faye are in the wedding party, and little Faye is so nervous with her role as one of the flower girls that one would think she is the bride.  When she arrived home last evening from attending the rehearsal festivities all she talked about was being so nervous.  Apparently the fact that she is the shortest of the flower girls places her first to walk down the aisle.  My hunch is that she will handle her role just fine.

This coming Monday morning the framing crew will be on the job site preparing to erect the steel frame for the new Handy Toyota store.  The crew foreman was on site yesterday taking final measurements and based on his demeanor all appeared to be satisfactory.  With some cooperation from Mother Nature, by this time next week I am hoping to have a picture or two in my blog of the framing progress, but for now check out the image below to see the mostly completed foundation!  It feels so good to have progressed to this point.

October is off to a reasonably good start here at Handy Toyota of St. Albans, VT.  The Toyota service crew is starting to rev up to meet the demands of getting vehicles ready for the winter months ahead.  New Toyota and pre-owned vehicle sales are on a normal October pace as well, so all and all unless something unexpected pops up, October is on the way to a good month.

I must be short this week.  My job at the wedding this afternoon is to be in charge of our granddaughter Marie.  She is the sweetest one year old that I have ever known.  The joy that she brings to our family is incredible.  We are so fortunate to have her.

The best to all and please have a laid back enjoyable week end.

Dan Luneau
Handy Toyota
St. Albans, VT  05478

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What is with this weather?

While snow is not unusual in Vermont any time of the year (except maybe July) it has been a topsy-turvy couple of weeks for weather lately.  Two weeks ago our worst and most damaging snow storm of the year, last week hail, and yesterday cold with snow showers.  In between we've had some beautiful weather with some warm days and some cold, though, so it's not all bad.  Oh well who knows what's in store - we will have to wait and see.

For all those basketball fans, the Boston Celtics' Rajon Rondo put on a performance yesterday that will go down as one of the best of all time for the Celtics.  With the exception of Paul Pierce everyone stepped up their game, and Rondo scored over 20 points, had 15 rebounds, and dished out 18 assists.  What an incredible performance by a man who refuses to lose and who is, by the way, barely over six feet tall. Wow!

The other night Handy Toyota team was honored at the Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce's Annual Dinner and Silent Auction as the 2009 Large Business of the Year.  To quote Jamie West I can think of no business that is more deserving for the continued work in the community while providing good jobs to those willing to work.

The New York Yankees beat up the Boston Red Sox again, but these things have a way of turning themselves around as the season progresses.  I guess we will have to wait and see.  The Yankees, while playing great ball, still find themselves behind the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the overall stats.

On the cooking front I continue to experiment with Chicken Florentine recipes.  I will have something to report on the topic soon, but for now I'm finagling.  I might use this one for the Hood Cook-Off in Maine this November if it turns out well, and I am also working on different egg roll combination which look promising as well.

Kudo's to Al's French Fries for the recent prestigious James Beard Award.  They were voted one of America's Best Classic Restaurants.  I guess they do represent that 1950s and '60s era burger joint well!

Oh well that's it for this go round, but I will be back in the blogosphere soon.

Tom "the Blogmeister" Young

Handy Toyota

St. Albans, VT 05478

Burnt Lawn, Happy Tom

My lawn remains burnt so for me the living is easy.  No snow and no lawn can life get any better?  The truck pulls @ the Franklin County Field days went as expected with Jack Chamberlain winning in both ½ ton, and ¾ ton classes.  Field days were a success and we look forward to participating again next year.  The cook-off approaches and I will be submitting my two main recipes next week. This year if picked I will be fully armed and garnished as I try to advance to the finals.

The Haskell Contest concluded this past weekend @ Beautiful Monmouth Park and I finished in Mid Pack.  My goal was to win so no bragging rights here.  I will try to get to Saratoga this year @ some point but that is not looking promising.  So it will just have to be contests from this point forward.  If you have never been to Saratoga it would be worth the trip.

Congress appears to have stopped behaving badly and maybe just in time.  Now possibly they can focus on Business Leaders taking their money off the sidelines and putting it in play.  Listening to temper tirades at the podium from both sides of the aisle makes me scratch my head and wonder out loud why seasoned politicians don't understand that the country is evenly divided with no real majority anymore.  Compromise is the only way to move forward.  While it makes no one happy not to get all their wishes, accept the fact that this is where we are at and work with it.  Good to see Vladimir Putin calling us an Economic Parasite.  He must have forgotten that the only wealth his country obtained was by robbing European countries after WWII.  Maybe he should pay off the money they owe us from The Lend Lease Act from the 1940's.

Oh well another Blog comes to an end. Be back next week.

Tom "The Blogmeister" Young
Handy Toyota

Gearing up for the Great Weekend Ahead

It’s Friday July 8th already, and according to the weather forecast from today this weekend is going to be spectacular.  I for one am so excited to be able to get outside and enjoy working on my many projects.

The month of June is behind us and what a busy month it was for me.  Fishing in Alaska and the annual Toyota business meeting in Las Vegas took up a big part of the month, and as much as I enjoyed both events I must admit it is great to be home.  Vermont is still my favorite place to be, and we are so fortunate to have such a beautiful place to live.

The new Toyota store project is moving forward.  We recently ordered the building which has an estimated time of arrival of the week after Labor Day.  Our goal is to have the foundation and most, if not all, of the site work done prior to the arrival of the building.  If that time goal is met, then our next goal would be to have the building framed and tight to the weather so the inside work can proceed through the winter months without having to work in cold conditions.  When spring arrives our hope is to finish the outside elements and be able to move in during the early to middle part of May.  I will keep you posted as we move ahead with the project.

Handy Toyota is off to a brisk start for the month of July.  Toyota products are still very high on folks’ consideration list when they are out shopping for a new vehicle.  I am fast approaching my 38th anniversary in this business and having represented a fair share of different brands over the years it is fair to say that Toyota ranks right up at the top as far as quality, reliability, residual value and low cost of ownership are concerned.  Our goal is to achieve and maintain the highest level of customer satisfaction possible and having a product like Toyota helps us to do just that.  Both we and Toyota are not perfect but to do what we do every day, week, month and year, one after another, I am very happy that a Toyota sign stands over the building that I work in.

I hope to see you folks at the store and please accept my best wishes for the beautiful weekend we are about to enjoy.

The best!

Dan Luneau
Handy Toyota

Preakness Day

Lots going on this week.  Work has been busy and that is always welcome.  The Celtics are rolling on in their match-up against Cleveland, further proof of my theory they tanked the Regular Season to prepare for the Playoffs.

Toyota continues to amaze me.  They have had everything thrown at them but the kitchen sink and they continue to roll.  Their sales are up and their profit is as well.  They are committing millions to safety and research and development.  This week they announced the cost of the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle is down to 50,000.00.  I am happy to be part of this great Corporation.  Maybe B.P. could take a lesson on how to take care of mistakes as Toyota has done with the Tacoma Truck.

The Celtics have looked impressive playing better than their record of the long season indicated.  They are getting it from everybody except Paul Pierce at this point.  Against Orlando, if they get by Cleveland, Pierce will have to step up.

Big Mike got sent home last night and it was overdue.  He was operating on borrowed time and it finally caught up to him.  I feel the final 3 are the best of this years bunch for different reasons and anyone of them can do well in the industry if they want to.  A reminder to Mike Daughtry finished 4th and he has been the most successful of that group.

I woke up this morning to frost and we are halfway to June.  Frost in the morning and cut the grass at night.  You just have to love this weather.  Lots of stuff coming up this summer @ Handy's so stay in touch by reading our Newsletter at our Web Page.  You will also notice major improvements in our website so take a look.

Finally my favorite time of the year.  It's Triple Crown time and after nailing the Derby on Face Book I will try to do the same for the Preakness.  There is no evidence of pace in this race.  Jackson Bend maybe as this is what Nick Zito usually tries to do in this race.  That is to upset on the front end.  Now if Jackson does not go than I look to Calvin Borel on Super Saver to try to go gate to wire and come home with the victory.  Borel will sit second or third if Jackson Bend goes early.  That leaves all the late action in the race to "Lookin @ Lucky".  He should be closing stoutly and may collar Super Saver.  The only others I see with the possibility of an upset are Dublin or Yawanna Twist.  Oh well that's my thoughts on the Preakness and if you place a wager may the horse be with you.

Tom "The Blogmeister" Young

Handy Toyota

tyoung@handycars.com