Modr’s Service Center, West Point, celebrated 70 years in business over the weekend.
The celebration kicked off on Friday with “Step Back into the Past” day, where Modr’s traveled 70 years back in time with employees pumping gas and washing windshields of customers. Inside, female employees dressed in ’50s attire.
On Saturday, the service center had a chili cook-off contest, live music, hot cocoa, a bounce house and face painting.
Jimmy and Frances Modr opened their business in 1953. They started by selling tires and gasoline, which was pumped by an attendant. They also offered auto repair and car washing. Jimmy was only one of a few in the area who could recap and balance tires. He also had a mobile tire truck.
The couple’s son, James “Michael” Modr, started working at the business in 1973 when he was 14 years old. He was Jimmy’s right-hand man.Modr’s grew so rapidly that it added another building that holds five bays with two alignment racks, one for passenger vehicles and the other ...