THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 6, 1995 TAG: 9512050107
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Around Town
SOURCE: Linda McNatt
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
Rumors were flying around town last week about the closing of the J&J Service Center, home for so many years to the Jones boys.
``Even Gomer and Goober had to pass on,'' Ronnie Jones said.
And what a touching, fitting comment that was.
Ronnie Jones, 37, took over the small, full-service gasoline station from a cousin in 1981. He soon brought in his brother, Hatcher, 10 years his senior. Daddy, Everett ``Casey'' Jones, joined the boys when he retired from Newport News Shipbuilding. At 71, he was still going strong, lending a hand in the service center and helping to pump gas whenever he was needed.
The Joneses say they decided to give up on the business, which has been a service station on Main Street in Smithfield for as long as anybody can recall, because of new regulations passed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Underground tanks at the station, more than 30 years old, either had to be replaced or upgraded. Either option would have cost the small businessmen about $100,000.
``We knew it was inevitable that we would have to close,'' Hatcher Jones said. ``We just tried to hold out. Like the Alamo - hoping all the Spaniards would retreat, but they didn't.''
The Jones brothers, and their dad, will miss the customers the most.
``You reckon I ought to go over and get a piece of poster board and put a sign in the window saying we're not selling gas any more?'' Hatcher asked his brother.
``Yeah,'' Ronnie said. ``And write on it, `Thanks for the memories.' ''
The memories are those of the people who made the business what it was - not just a place to have your car serviced, a tire fixed, or to buy gas. The J&J Service Center has been much, much more.
It's been a place to gather and catch up on the news, to buy a pack of crackers and a soda, a pack of cigarettes or a snack cake. It's been baseball-central during the summers, home of the Smithfield baseball pool and home run derby. In the fall and winter, a football fantasy went on. And, in recent years, a NASCAR pool has been on-going.
There was no cable-TV to keep up with here, only a small portable with pliers to change the channels, but plenty of comfortable chairs if you simply wanted to hang out.
Closing was no easy decision.
``We've discussed this countless times,'' Ronnie said. ``The consensus was that we should close. But knowing what you should do and having the heart to accept it are two different things. Our customers have been like family.''
``I believe there are people who would have still bought gas from us if we'd have charged $3 a gallon for it,'' Hatcher said.
The men are uncertain if the small, brick building will be torn down. I suggested that perhaps it should be dismantled and part of it should go into the Isle of Wight County Museum, like the re-creation of the country store they have there. Full-service gasoline stations are fast becoming history.
It's not unlike many small, family businesses, Ronnie said, losing out to the bigger, better, faster-service variety.
The building and property have been purchased by the owners of the Smithfield Ice Cream Parlor and Alan Monette, owner of Monette Information Systems. Rumors accompanying talk about the demise of the service station say that David and Margaret Carroll plan to expand their ice cream and sandwich shop and that Monette may build some kind of a small park, with maybe a memorial to the area's veterans.
Hatcher said maybe he'll wait a couple of years and join the seniors golf tour. He hopes to keep the sports pools going. Ronnie, a talented musician, singer and song writer said maybe he'll go into that full time. Anything from bar mitzvahs to pig pickings.
One thing they are sure of. Even though they've made the decision, it's not easy to accept. The station will continue to be open for minor repairs until the final papers are signed.
``They've pulled us off the respirator,'' Hatcher said.
``But we haven't flat-lined yet,'' Ronnie added, finishing the thought for his brother. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LINDA McNATT
Ronnie and Hatcher Jones are closing J&J Service Center.
by CNB