The "Putting the ole guy to rest" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just opened a Christmas gift from my three children.  Big package that when I ripped the wrapping paper off of it revealed a new Lawn Boy lawnmower.  My youngest son, who feeds our cat, checks on the house and mows the grass when we go on vacation a few times a year decided that I needed a new mower after using the old Lawn Boy for the last few years.  It was back in 1965 that I worked for one Merle Peachey at Fairview Avenue Rentals in the south-west end of the city of Lancaster, PA.  I was a junior at Millersville State Teachers College and worked part-time for him at his rental business.  Handled the upkeep and maintenance of his lawnmowers, chainsaws, weed trimmers, etc.  Had to sharpen, chain the oil, wash and keep everything in good working order for the customers at the rental store on Fairview Ave.  After the first summer working there I noticed that he sold the dozen Lawn Boy mowers that he had purchased at the beginning of the season.  Wanted to have new mowers to start the new mowing season the following year.  Did the same thing every year he pointed out to me.  So, the following season, my senior year in college, I kept one mower in the back of the shop and only sent it out as a last resort.  At the end of the summer I asked Peachey, as we all called him, if I could buy one of the left-over mowers.  Yep, $20, same as the customers paid.  

My new Lawn Boy on the left.  The 46 year
old Lawn Boy in still in great shape and my
brother said he will put it on eBay and get
$200 for me.  In the rear you can see one
of the many hills on my property that I mow.

 That was a fair, but now cheap price for the top of the line Lawn Boy mower back in the mid-60s.  So I pushed the slightly used mower out to my car.  He walked over to the car and asked where I got "THAT" mower.  Told him it was one of his used ones like the rest.  Then he understood what I had done and got a good laugh out of it.  Hey, he still made as much money off of them as he would have anyway.  Anyway, he liked me since I was always early to work and worked my butt off for him.  That mower has been in use by me since that time.  47 summers of grass it mowed.  Always started on the first pull every time.  Pumped the primer half a dozen time, pulled the cord and off I went. Only one time did I have any trouble with it.  Stalled out on me a few times and my cousin, who works on Lawn Boy mowers, looked at it and determined that the small cardboard disk under the gas cap that had a hole in it to allow for gas flow had swollen shut.  Tool a nail, made the hole larger, and I was good again.  Bugger worked like a workhorse for me.  Only problem was that it wasn't self-propelled and I have a few banks on my one acre property that are close to 45 degrees and it can get tough to mow at times.  My son told his mom that, "Dad shouldn't be pushing that mower up those hills anymore."  So, he and his brother and sister chipped in and bought me a new one for Christmas.  "You need a rear-wheel powered one for the steep banks the lady at the mower shop said," he told me.  So, that's what I got.  Gonna be tough to put the ole guy to rest after 47 years.  I knew every adjustment, every nut and bolt and every little quirk of that mover.  But, as I approach my prime years, the self-propelled Lawn Boy will be a god-send.  And, I'm sure he will enjoy mowing for me a whole bunch more.  I'm going to have to write to Lawn Boy and tell them how good the ole guy worked all these years.  Did send them a letter after about 25 years telling them about her and they sent me a thank you letter along with a hat and shirt, which I gave to my son.  Wonder what I'll get after this letter!  You can be sure you'll know!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.