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Auto-Biography: Haynes Garage
By James J. Allen
Blink and you’ll
miss the Haynes family garage in Northeast Harbor.
But locals and
summer people in town don’t miss the shop when their engines are
hurting.
Inside in front of a Model A
Ford. From left John Haynes, Dana Haynes, Lucy Haynes, Dan
Haynes and Jeff Haynes.
Staff Photo by James J. Allen |
The garage is known
near and far for its workmanship and the more than 160 vintage autos
it stores for the winter.
Just down the road
from the
two Pine Street
garages stand four airplane hangar-sized storage buildings. Peer
inside one and you might see a restored 1927 Model A Ford, a classic
Mercedes-Benz or a 1989 Ford Escort.
Yup, some car
owners just like having something to run around in, according to
family mechanic Jeff Haynes.
“We get just about
everything here,” he explained.
The garage, now
owned by Dana and Lucy Haynes, has enjoyed a steady stream of
traffic from all over Mount Desert Island since it opened nearly 70 years ago.
It was Dana’s
grandfather, Richard, who started the business in the 1930s from
wages he earned as a mechanic at other shops. Richard Haynes worked
at the shop until he was 81.
Gradually, the
garage grew as the family did, expanding to include boat engine
repair and employing Dana, straight from high school, and later, his
wife Lucy in the office.
Today, Haynes
Garage is truly a family affair, employing Dana’s sons Dan and Jeff,
daughter Wendy, and her husband John. A fourth generation now scoots
around the garage as well.
No one drives to
work either. Each member of the family lives within a wrench’s throw
from each other’s doorstep.
Hard to believe
that so many vehicles take their medicine within the confines of the
tiny garages, which are literally working history museums.
There is a clean,
organized clutter to the garages tool-lined walls and worn wooden
shelves. Out back, massive lathes and drill presses are still used
to make parts. Meanwhile, a woodshop in the cellar turns out custom
and replacement parts.
One customer, a
member of the Ford auto family, has had the Haynes’ fix and store
her car for years.
“That car is a
beauty,” Dana Haynes called the customer’s 1940 Ford Woody Wagon.
As the season slows
down, the family begins to prepare the cars for winter storage. When
spring rolls around and their owners arrive, the autos are polished
and delivered.
“So many people
have been coming to us for years and years,” said Haynes. “We know
them, they know us.” |
