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Show 3b ThlJrd?y. Oc THE GBFPM SHEET 27. 1088 CCTI inr un i unc Black Monday Feeling Noted As Four Way Service Station Closes In Magna by LaRee Pehrson Green Sheet Staff Writer MAGNA. Aug. 22 was "Black Monday" not only for the owner of the Four Way Service Station on the comer of 8400 W. 3500 South, but for many people who have bought gas there for the past 62 years. While some people may regard the change in the station as a result of progress, others see it as a loss of social values and the triumph of big government and big business over the "Great American Dream. But whatever it is, for the first time since 1926 there will be no more gas pumped there, and although the station will continue with a complete line of repair services, a lot of older folks and handicapped people will mourn its loss like the loss of an old friend. to John Sutton, According whose father built the station back when gas stations were just becoming part of the American scene, this is the fourth building that has been erected on the site. The first one was part of Charles Ernest (Doc) and Mary Diana (Marne) Reid Suttons original family home, which "Doc" moved up on the comer in 1926. For a time he ran it himself, but as his health grew more fragile he turned it over to Vance Sutton, one of his sons. Before long the venture turned into a family affair, when John Sutton began helping out after school, and after a time he just sort of drifted into the business himself. However, he soon realized that it was the worst time of the century to be in business, because the Great Depression came along. At one time the profit margin was only one cent a gallon, resulting in a profit of $1 a day, if you were lucky enough to sell 100 gallons of never mortgaged the station. Like many young men John had his heart set on going to college. However, in the third quarter of his first year (February 1934) his father died. So John put aside his dreams of pursuing a higher education to run the station and to take care of his mother and his sister Elizabeth. "During the time I had the station," Sutton said, "They cut a road behind the station and it became a death strip, so the state condemned the ground behind the station and made the curve where it is now, but I had to turn the station around. I built a new white stucco one on a shoestring in 1937 and kept in business." But as time went on it became evident that the family needed more resources to get by, so his mother sold the station to Utah Oil Company in 1938 for the sum of $5,000 which carried her through her old age. Utah Oil then leased the place to Jack Denton, who also took over the drive-i- n on the comer of 8400 W. 2700 South and the service station on the corner of 9180 W. 2700 South that was run by Verl Perkins. John Sutton continued to work for Denton for the magnificent sum of 35 cents an hour. It was about that time that John Coon, present owner of the corner, came into the picture, he started working for John Sutton on the farm when he was 16 years old and ended up helping out at the service station while John Sutton drove the school bus. The two Johns soon found that Denton was a hard task master, because the cash register had to check out right to the penny every night or they had to dig down into their own pockets to make up the deficit. divested himself of all of his service stations, and Merl Coon, Johns cousin, ran the facility. In the meantime John Coon had finished his stint in the Air Force as crew chief on a 7 Bomber, and came back to the station. Merl went into the furniture business, and later became B-1- deputy sheriff here. With a lot more technical skills acquired in the Air Force, John Coon leased the station from Utah Oil Company, a subsidiary of American Oil in late 1946. Fifteen years later the station became an American Oil Station and UTOCO became just a memory, with AMOCO becoming the catch phrase of the day. In 1950 the station was rebuilt to accommodate a change in the road, and again in 1964 when the merging traffic lane was put in. As the years went by John built up ;a thriving business that became a "gathering place" not only for help with mechanical difficulties but for friendly conversation as well, and he included his son Layne in the family operation at an early age. With the emergence of the big oil company conglomerates in the s John faced still another challenge. In order to stay in business he had to buy the station in 1978 for the sum of $78,000. When he retired in 1983 he leased the business to his son Layne, but he continued to work at the facility on a limited basis. The most recent change in the Coon familys life was brought about by an EPA directive that said the gasoline tanks must be out of the ground for testing before Labor Day. On Aug. 22nd ranged between The trend is that the little guy is done for as far as the gasoline business is concerned," John Coon said. "They are now well on their way to becoming extinct, like the mom and pop grocery stores that used to be on every comer and the individually owned pharmacies that are rapidly being swallowed up by the big conglomerates." "As the leases come due the big oil companies wont renew the leases with the independent operators. Instead they tear down the stations and build a big with installation and a girl in a booth to pumps, take the money. They only have to pay minimum wage. Gone is the personal touch of cleaning windows for the elderly and the handicapped, and they even charge for air," he continued. "If they charge for air, people should go where the air is fref, 0. self-servi- because I believe that anyone buying gas should have the privilege of having free air and hiving their windows cleaned," he added. "The thing that makes me feel badly about all this, is the sweet older ladies and widows that I liked to wait on and help take care of their cars. There were also five or six handicapped people who patronized our station because they appreciated what we did." Coon went on to say that when it was UTOCO it was a Utah operation, and they were treated like a part of a large family. Now the stations are managed from back east, and their primary concern is making money "If you cant pump your own gas or clean your windows, who cares," he added. Although the gas business is over on the comer of 3500 So. Dance StutJio GRAND OPENING OCTOBER .7853 W. 24 1988 Glenwood Avo. (3455 So.), Magna Right in your neighborhood INSTKUCTION CHOREOGRAPHY the tanks, although there was nothing wrong with them, were hauled away to the salvage yard, and the bids to replace the tanks JAZZ TAP all ages CHILD DANCE Phone 250-835- 1; after 2 p.m. 4? Baptist Church presents the DATE: Sunday evenings (now thru Nov. 6) 7:00 p.m. TIME: PLACE: THE KIDDIE KEEPER (4732 S. 1950 W.) For Information Call CIRCA 1926.. John and Vance Sutton are pictured outside their station In Magna In the Note the open grease pit, outside privy and old gas pumps. Zions Bank Is on the Magna site today. . 965-923- 8 IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE Jed VanDenBerghe, M.D. - r PEDIATRICIAN joining the medical staff of Westside Pediatrics 4052 West Pioneer Parkway 206 (3390 South) UT 84120 West Valley City, 966-147- 2 MEMORIES ... John Sutton, John to update some of Its equipment which necessitated changing the nature of the work done there for many decades. Coon and Layne Coon share memories about the service station on the corner of 3500 South an 8400 West. Federal and insurance regulations required the station When World War II broke out John Coon went off to war for five years, and John Sutton continued to work part time at the station while running a dairy farm, taking care of 1,000 chickens, and farming some extra ground that he had purchased, so he left the station in 1946. During the war Denton had Lines From LaRee The average man is always waiting for something to happen to him instead of working to make things happen. For one person who dreams of making a fortune, a hundred people dream of being left a fortune. - A. A. Milne oanars Candy Offered Monday At Redwood FHP X-R- ay REDWOOD. FHFs Redwood Medical Center located at 2100 So. 1525 West will serve as a center on Halloween candy y night, Monday. The radiology department will be open from p.m. to y childrens bags of candy in order to detect metal objects. ASK ABOUT OUR MANAGERS SPECIALS (Changes Weekly Every Store Different) Frh, Sat., Mon., Oct. 28, 29, 31st 7-- The service is free of charge to FHP members and the general public. COUPON Something for the Whole Family FALL KNITS, W0YENS& SWEATS & MAKING A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE Watch for that L word. Its going to be used. What it stands for is Leadership. the Representative Rush, alone bucked Democratic partys opposition to tax reform and rebates. He voted for Republican policies when they were sound, for Democratic programs when sound, but voted as an independent when partisan policies got in the way of good judgment. HUNTING JOGGING ADULT JACKETS With or without the tax initiatives, taxes will be cut. Only an expanding economy can provide more revenue for State Services, Rush says. 'UQEICI Intermountain Pioneer Valley hospital PERFORMANCE BALLET Ah, mid-70- Tired of your vehicle having NO LIGHTS? Lot mo help! tOCSMAEJU WMIOK Jfepplaris MARRIAGES DON'T JUST HAPPEN: Film Series kinds of weather, and although the Suttons suffered like everyone else, they kept their heads above water and didnt go broke or change hands like a lot of their competitors did. John Sutton attributes this to the fact that they owned their own building, and although they had to mortgage their home, they - BECAUSE GOOD MARRIAGE ENRICHMENT gas. To beef up the operation, the Suttons put in a confectionary case where they sold doughnuts, cookies and Glades candy. Earl J. Glade, who later became mayor of Salt Lake was the salesman. They also sold Denhalter soda pop to not only thirsty travelers but to neighborhood kids as well. Grease jobs were done in an open pit outside the facility in all SPECIALISTS DC SYSTEMS Cal 250-778- 0 No OWiptwm Fret Estimites 10 In. Eipenonct 8400 West, old and new customers can still get full service in the mechanical line, and they can still have their cars inspected and emission controls tested. But the song of the gas pumps have silenced forever, by the sound of money going into the coffers of the big oil companies, ending a symphony that has been played out six days a week for the last 62 years. All lizot available $00 with this coupon ADULT FLEECE JOGGING SETS |