May 26, 2025 • 26 mins
The multi-generational heartbeat of the towing industry comes alive as John Beauman Jr, Third-generation owner of Beauman's Garage in Lockport, NY, shares his family's remarkable 75-year journey in towing. Born into the business that his grandfather started in 1950, John embodies the deep connection many have to this profession – it's not just work, but a complete way of life.
As First Vice President of the Empire State Towing Recovery Association (ESTRA), John provides an exciting preview of their upcoming 41st annual trade show happening June 6-8 in Lake George. This event combines essential industry education with family-friendly activities in one of New York's most beautiful vacation destinations. From specialized EV and hazmat training to the popular truck show-and-shine competition, evening entertainment, and networking opportunities, the ESTRA show represents the industry's spirit of community and advancement.
What truly stands out in our conversation is ESTRA's critical role as an advocate for towing professionals at the state legislature. Founded in 1980 by visionary operators who recognized the power of collective action, the association ensures towing perspectives are heard when regulations are considered. John explains how educating lawmakers about the substantial investments in equipment and training that enable today's efficient roadside service helps create more balanced policies. This advocacy exemplifies how industry associations transform individual challenges into collective solutions through representation, education, and bringing people together.
The welcoming atmosphere of the ESTRA show extends beyond New York, inviting towers from surrounding states and Canada to join this celebration of industry excellence. Whether you're a seasoned professional or bringing family to experience the magic of Lake George while connecting with the towing community, this event offers something for everyone. Register today at estratoshow.com and become part of this vibrant tradition where towing expertise meets family fun in a picture-perfect setting.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
you're on the train to success with april and wes
wilburn.
I'm dj harrington, the co-host,better known as the toe doctor.
We're all on our way to thetown of proper towing and
recovery, along with ourproducer, chuck camp, in the
studio.
Don't go to the town of woulda,coulda, shoulda.
(00:25):
You coulda had done this.
You should have done that.
Listen every week tothought-provoking wisdom from
great guests.
So if you have Spotify, itunes,pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia
or the number one podcast, ormaybe Amazon or wherever you get
(00:50):
your podcasts, turn in onWednesday and be turned on all
week long.
If you are a state associationand want your announcements or
upcoming state association newsannouncements or upcoming state
association news or maybe aco-show that's coming up, let us
(01:10):
know.
Our podcast studio phone numberis 706-409-5603.
I'm proud to be part of a greatteam at the american dorm
recovery institute.
Let's make 2025 our best yearever.
I will turn it to April.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Loomis.
Thanks, dj, I really appreciatethat.
Alright, as we promised, we'vegot a great guest here today.
We have John Bowman of Bowman'sGarage.
They're out of Lockport, newYork, three generation company
April.
They're celebrating their 75thanniversary this year.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Whoa.
I've seen on their websitewhere they're over 50 years, so
you guys need to update that toover 75 years.
Now, 75 years, that isphenomenal.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Absolutely, and John is also first vice president of
ESTRA.
As you all know, we're veryfond of ESTRA, the Empire State
Tone Recovery Association.
We work with them with training.
We also work with them.
They have one of the greatshows.
If you've never been to theirshow up in lake george, new york
, you really ought to go.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
It's a great family event it's a great family event
and it's a quality show.
You meet some good people thereif you've never met them before
, and you see some old friendsif you have absolutely, and that
show's coming up.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
So.
So, john, would you mindintroducing yourself to our
guests?
Tell us a little bit about yourbackground as well.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Yeah, my name is John Bowman Jr.
I'm the president of Bowman'sGarage, Incorporated in Lockport
, New York.
Third generation Grandfatherstarted the business in 1950.
My father took over in 84, andthen myself and my business
partner, John Kirsch, bought thebusiness from my father in 2013
(02:50):
.
My father was past presidentand vice president of Eshka and
kind of followed in hisfootsteps a bit.
I'm currently the first vicepresident.
I've been a part of theassociation since I was a little
kid, so I've also beenobviously in the towing industry
since I was a child and when Iwas born they just stand correct
(03:11):
or operate around my butt andsend me on my way.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
One of the best things.
I see in the towing industry isthat this.
I've seen this happen in otherother companies too, and it
definitely shows how muchsomebody's been brought up into
it and has worked it, how muchthey really care about the
company that they now own andthe industry itself yeah, and
that shows what your volunteerefforts with Astra it's
(03:36):
definitely a lifestyle as muchas a business.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
I used to tell Wes and I still do from time to time
that we talk towing, truckingand rigging and that's pretty
much all we talk.
My wife tries to change thesubject on me.
Good luck to her.
If she's figured it out, let meknow I got you.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So we got the Estrus show coming up.
What is this?
The 41st or the 42nd?
So?
Speaker 5 (04:05):
we got the Estrus show coming up.
What is this?
The 41st or the 42nd?
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yep, this is the 41st Estrus show.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
I'm part of the State Towing Recovery Association in
Lake George.
It's June 6th through the 8th.
We got a bunch going on thisyear.
Lake George is a good familytown.
Lots to do, especially, youknow, bring the family up.
It's a good time.
It's at the Charles EdwardWoods Park.
(04:30):
There is a couple things priorto the show.
There's an EV class Wednesdayin Schenectady and then it's
Raphael's in Albany.
They have a hazmat classThursday from 1 to 5.
It's an eight-hour hazmat class, so 1 to 5 on Thursday and 9 to
(04:56):
12.
Prior to the toe show openingat 1 o'clock on Friday Well, boy
, you're making this easy, john.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I really appreciate it.
The EV classes we're doing withRaphael right before the show
and we're very thankful he'shosting that class and putting
it together.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Raphael does a great job for Astra and the towing
industry itself, especially inthat Albany area.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
He looks like he really got it going on with the
videos and stuff I've seen itwas operation Absolutely.
And then can I comment realquick on the hazmat?
That's Perry Beatty Absolutely,perry.
I've known out of NorthCarolina for 30-some years.
He used to be in the tailingbusiness, got involved in
(05:37):
environmental cleanup and hashazmat responder network and if
you haven't been to one of hisclasses, I really suggest you do
.
He's going to teach you in avery simple manner, something
very simple to handle, thatyou're leaving money laying on
the ground in many cases.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
Well, and I've had a couple accidents.
Now the only way we got paidfor the whole accident was
because there was a spill and wegot a spill numbered.
So we actually got paid forremoving the vehicle that had no
collision insurance.
Obviously they can't get paidfor storage and stuff like that,
but you get paid for removingthe vehicle and causing a hazard
(06:12):
.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Yeah, absolutely, that's a great point.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
So just a little more .
On Friday we have the meet andgreet.
Friday night we have the meetand greet and we do the auction
and all that.
But it's a meet and greet.
I mean, the food's always good,you can meet everybody,
especially if you haven't beenthere before, and then you're
(06:36):
handling the auction right.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Well, we're helping.
Josie out of All-County on LongIsland has got that company
that kind of helped last year.
They're going to come in alittle stronger this year.
We're going to still do some ofour memorabilia stuff, but a
lot of the stuff they did the.
I still do some of ourmemorabilia stuff, but a lot of
the stuff they did the popculture stuff was very popular,
(07:01):
so they're going to kind ofhandle it.
I'm going to start the auctionand they're going to have a
professional auctioneer finishit all.
So if you liked it last year,you're going to love this year.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Saturday, the show the 7th, which is really your
big main day.
At the show We've got all-daydemos.
The show's edge and judgingwill be going on, and we get
more and more trucks every yearPretty central for trucks that
come out of Vermont andMassachusetts, stuff like that,
(07:32):
which we love from all over.
We love that other states showup and help support Astra and
then Saturday they're doing theband in the park again.
That was pretty successful lastyear.
So everybody said that'ssomething we should bring back
(07:52):
and we're doing that.
So that should be a good timeand that's something we should
bring back and we're doing that,so that should be a good time.
And that's at 6 o'clock, Ibelieve.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, that was a great time last year.
It was really a lot of fun.
So we're going to need to takea quick break, but right after
the break I want you to talk alittle bit about Estra and what
they do throughout the year.
Can you hang around until afterthe break?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
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Speaker 1 (10:00):
Welcome back listeners.
You know you're listening tothe number one podcast.
This has been a great one.
I want to remind all of you toreview, like and share with your
friends.
That's the reason why we haveso many listeners and I can't
thank you enough for sharingwith each other.
(10:20):
If you want to hear anotherindustry expert like John from
Lockwood, new York and this isthird generation, but he is a
great guy we have a hotlinenumber at the podcast center,
706-409-5603, and Wes and Aprilwill do their very best to get
(10:43):
that industry expert on.
And if you have an associationyou want to promote on the
number one podcast, by all meanssubmit it and we'll be happy to
do it.
So all I wanted to ask before Iturn it over to april is ask
john, if people willing to bringsome stuff for the auction
(11:05):
could they bring it with them.
You know, on june 6th becausethis is june 6th through the 8th
and you know, in lake ge, it'sa beautiful area.
If you have never been there,folks, I'm going to tell you it
is gorgeous, it is a fun placeto be and this is a real family
show.
So, april, I'll turn it over toyou.
(11:25):
This has been a good one.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
It has been a good one.
Dj John, I wanted to ask you alittle bit about Estra and
basically it its origin story.
You said this is our 41st yearof the trade show.
How many years has Estra beenaround and what was the catalyst
that brought that on?
Speaker 5 (11:45):
So Estra was first established in 1980.
I believe it was June, rightaround there.
Yeah, june 1980.
So there was an issue.
I don't remember exactly whatit was, but it was the founding
fathers, yeah, the founding.
Yeah, owen Blow had an issuewith something.
(12:08):
The founding fathers of OwenBlow, dick Frazier, tommy
Luciano, bob Maffinero andWarren Roosevelt, Frank you're
just yeah, I always mess up hisname so they came up, they were
having some issues and they cameup with this group and they
(12:29):
figured if they worked togetherat a common goal, you know that
they could change things andthey really.
It was a big step forward andthey all stuck their neck out
for us all the benefit, theirneck out for us all to benefit.
Now, you know, now that youhave to develop, uh, you know,
network, um support amongcolleagues in the industry.
(12:49):
So, everybody, can you know, ifyou have just one idea, that
doesn't always go so far and agroup of ideas bound together,
can, you know, take it further?
Yeah, power numbers and, uh,you know, and the old adage too,
divide and conquer.
If we can all stay togetherwith a common goal and common
goals and education, we bringthe industry up.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, and we live in a day and time that any group
needs representation for the waylaws are made and the way
things are handled.
And, as I understand it, thatwas a catalyst with how Orlin
Bloom because, as I understandit he had some kind of issue and
I've heard this story time,similar stories, time and time
(13:38):
again around the country ofhardworking towing operators
running a legit towing businessand trying to interact with the
police, or how the policeinteracts with them and how they
treat them can get challengingsometimes and there was some
kind of challenge with OrlinBloom that I believe led to his
his arrest over it, you know,and he stood his ground and did
(14:01):
what he thought was right.
And the individuals youmentioned uh, you know, frank,
had future record sales heck ofa gentleman.
Uh, of course, tony luciano.
Uh, we've had him on thepodcast many times and and I
think the telling world knows, Ithink the world of him warren
roosevelt's, another classyindividual that was one of those
group that stood up for OrlinBloom and started the process to
(14:26):
start Estra.
As I understand it, warren was atowing operator from upstate
New York and I first met himjust after the turn of the
century when I served on theboard of directors at the museum
and he was part of the groupthat came down when we moved the
museum from one building to theother, was part of the group
that came down when we moved themuseum from one building to the
other.
Uh, we all spent a weektogether uh doing that.
(14:47):
He actually, I remember, hurthis wrist and went to the
hospital and came back from thehospital it was, it wasn't
something major.
I think he maybe cut himselflike I can't remember uh, but
anyway he came back from thehospital and just ran it and
raved about how nice everybodyin the chattanooga Hospital was
and how the nurses just treatedyou different than upstate New
York.
And that wasn't knockinganything, he was just saying how
(15:09):
different it was.
And when I went to some of myfirst extra shows I didn't know
a lot of people and Warren wasthere and of course he knew
everybody's one of the foundersand the man went out of his way
to make sure that I didn't havedinner by myself any of the
evenings that I became part ofhis group and just treated me
with a great respect andabundance.
(15:30):
I was at the show last year andI saw Roosevelt's truck and I
saw two individuals polishingand working on it, cleaning up
for the show and shine.
I walked up and I said yourfather was a great man, I served
with him in the museum.
Up and I said your father waswas a great man, I served with
him in the museum and the two 30something year olds I guess,
looked at each other and said oh, you're talking about granddad,
(15:50):
aren't you?
Boy, dj, I'll tell you I feltold that day uh, warren was a
great guy.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Um, I was a little kid, though at the show he gave
me a hard time.
I wasn't working hard enough,or something.
You know, all them, all themguys.
You know, without, without themand the vision that they had,
you know, astra wouldn't be whatit is today that's right, and
you guys are a lobbying force inthe state capitol.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
If something comes up about towing, uh, the
legislator looks to estra forcomment and opinion and whatnot,
which a lot of people don'trealize how important that is.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
For sure.
The president, bob Gorman, hasbeen up to Albany doing quite a
bit, getting able to get in tosee the people you need to see
and have their ear for a littlebit, and that's really what it
is.
A lot of times they only getone side.
So when they say to reach outto your legislator or you know
(16:50):
the person in your area of anissue, you really should,
because most of the time theyreally only have that one side
that they're hearing and it'snot usually favorable to us.
And once you help themunderstand where we're coming
from, it changes a lot of things.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, most of them are reasonable people and
present it with facts and makereasonable decisions.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
You know, a lot of times they don't understand
their costs of doing business,and if you help them understand
why things are what they are, um, it helps.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
yeah, I think that I think that perspective does go a
long ways.
You know, I think when they seeyou guys pull up, hook up to
something to pull off, theythink it's that easy, literally
as easily as I just said it.
That's how easy they think theythink it is no, you get that a
lot, especially with the.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
You know how far our equipment has come and our
training of operators.
You come out and you'rebringing a lot of expensive
equipment to make things happenway faster than they used to.
Um and the highly educatedoperators that we have.
(18:05):
You know there's a cost to that, you know it's.
You know, just because you werein and out in an hour where it
used to be five or six, you knowdoesn't mean it should be less.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
That efficiency and that efficiency on the side of
the road saves people in thosecars lots of time and probably,
if you're hauling something,lots of money.
That's also not really factoredinto equations when they're
talking to you guys.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
And you know the industry is still working on it,
but it's getting better atexplaining things to people
using facts you know instead ofyou know.
Back in the day I remember mygrandfather.
He'd get, you know, get mad andget to yelling and you know,
some days it was it worked inhis favors.
(18:57):
There was other days thatturned that person right off.
The more you can stay calm andhave an educated conversation
really moves the industryforward.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
One of the things I have.
That's not official yet butwe're working on it.
If I can circle back to theshow for half a second, there's
an interest and I'm all on boardfor it and none of it's
finalized yet, but we're goingto try to do a lot more for kids
this year.
So we encourage all the peoplecoming bring your families.
There'll be stuff for the kidsto do and we're talking about
(19:31):
some real interactive stuff inthe afternoon on Saturday down
there.
I guess I am trying to teasebecause we're going to be sure
we're going to do it.
We just got to work out all thelogistics.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
No, that would be a really good thing.
There's a lot of younger kidsthat are being brought up in
this industry.
My son he'd probably love itbecause he ends up working most
of the show with everybody.
My son, Anthony.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Yeah, I was going to say your son is one of the
people that I had in mind asthey were talking about this.
I totally like it and hedefinitely is a big part.
I heard you say earlier in theconversation was rolling so I
didn't want to interrupt it butyou talked about being as a as a
child, at some of the early toeshows and interacting with
warren rosewell.
(20:15):
Your son's having those sameexperiences now because he's mr
johnny on the spot all over theplace.
If somebody needs a table orsomething, he was on it helping
everybody yep, I let him knowthat he has options.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
He can do whatever he wants in life, but he still
should know how to do this incase he ever needs a backup plan
if he doesn't want to do thisfull-time.
One more thing on the showwhile we circle back um anybody
that wants to go and go right onthe esther website, um
esthernewyorkorg, and they canpre-register for the show there
(20:47):
yeah, and that's a good idea topre-register.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
And thanks for the website as well.
Uh, the host hotel.
I don't know if it's filled upyet or not, but if it isn't,
it's probably pretty close tothe stage yeah, it's generally.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
This time it's pretty close.
I'm not sure on that, but themain way to registration is
estratoshowcom and there will belinks for the hotel
recommendations on there as wellyep, there's um, there's a
hotel info at the top leftinformation for exhibitors,
hotel info and then yourregistration.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
All right, nice and slow.
Estra Toe Show Empire StateTone and Recovery Association
Toe Show Dot Estracom.
Okay, just making sure ourlisteners got it.
That's good radio talk there,isn't it DJ?
Yeah, I'd be smellingeverything, so we're looking
(21:45):
forward to seeing everybodythere.
We love the Esther show.
It's one of the only two orthree that we go to throughout
the whole year.
Beautiful area up there.
I guess it was two years agothey had that burn coming out of
Canada, all that smog comingout of Canada.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I remember that.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
It was a little smoky .
Speaker 3 (22:03):
But yeah, but we were in upstate New York a day or
two before and it was smoky.
We got up to Astro and it wasjust like God had touched the
place, because it cleared thatsmoke out just in time for the
show.
So that's what confirmed thatit's a little piece of heaven up
there and that lake regionreally is beautiful.
I don't know if that's theright term, but uh it's a
(22:33):
beautiful area, isn't it?
Speaker 5 (22:34):
yeah, it's at around the?
Um.
There's plenty to do in thatthat town.
That's where it's a vacationtown.
Uh, you got the lake.
Um, there's steamboat rides, um, you know, you get across the
street from the way, across thestreet, from the show, you have
entrance to go up to the.
You can go right up to the topof the mountain.
You can drive three quarters ofthe way up and then you take a
(22:54):
bus the rest of the way, ashuttle, all the way up to the
top.
There's all kinds of familystuff to do and I'm out enjoying
everybody's company.
And, like I said, every year wegot more and more trucks.
It's getting back to theheydays when we used to have a
hundred trucks, you know.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
And Wes had been years before, but the two years
ago was the first time I wentand um, just as a perspective,
that Lake George is big enoughto hold that trade show but it
still has that quaint small townfeel to it absolutely.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
I know there's lots within walking distance and
arcades for the kids and I don'tknow't know I go in there too.
I spend just as much money inthe arcade as my kids do.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
It feels like a safe area too when you're going up
and down those streets.
It just feels like a safeenvironment.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
Oh yeah, absolutely the Warren County sheriffs up
there.
They keep a pretty tight shipup there, minimal problems.
Like I said, I've been going upthere since I was a little kid
and I've never had an issue.
And we got security at the showfor the trucks and the
equipment and all that.
So if you're bringing somethingoff, that's all secured area in
(24:09):
the park there.
So, yeah, it's a good time.
I look forward to seeing youguys again.
Probably pick up some moreequipment, like I did last year
well, we certainly appreciatethat.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
A great family time and it's a great event to
support a great organization.
And if you're in new york andyou're not a member of esther,
you should be.
And one other comment I want tomake about the show, real quick
if I could.
You touched on it earlier, butI just want to expand a little
bit about how welcoming you guysare to all the different
affiliates from different statesand different states in that
(24:45):
northeast region that come andrepresent at your show.
It's a great feel ofcamaraderie in that direction
too.
So I just wanted to mentionthat.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
Absolutely.
We're all in this together andwe welcome, you know, everybody
from all the surrounding states.
You know, whether you just, youknow, come and attend, or if
you want to bring up, you know,truck, stuff like that, you know
we welcome everybody and we'reall in this together.
So we gotta, you know, staytogether yeah, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
I'm mistakenly, didn't reference providences too
yeah, I was gonna say we'rereally just a drop away from
canada and definitely we've seenfriends from canada that show
over the years, so we hope wesee them again this year yeah,
no, we appreciate what you dofor for astra and the show um.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
You've been, you guys have been great and we really
really do appreciate that we'rehappy to be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
So, everybody listening, if you're close, you
ought to, you ought to get outthere to the astra show, the.
The dates are june 6th throughthe 8th.
We look forward to seeing youthere.
We'll be up there on the 4thdoing the ev class and perry
baby will be there on the 5thand the 6th with Hazmat
Responder Network with thattraining.
So, john, thanks for takingtime out of your day to talk to
(26:01):
us and also all you do for theassociation.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
I appreciate it.
It was my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Alright, and thanks everybody for listening.
Dj, you want to take us home.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Yes, this will be a great one, folks, if you really
want to take us home.
Yes, this will be a great one,folks, if you really want to go
to a real family reunion type ofevent, estrus where it's at and
I agree with all of you, it's agreat show and you're so
welcome, and everybody fromCanada, massachusetts, they all
come to Astro.
(26:33):
We'll see you there.
you're on the train to success with april and wes
wilburn.
I'm dj harrington, the co-host,better known as the toe doctor.
We're all on our way to thetown of proper towing and
recovery, along with ourproducer, chuck camp, in the
studio.
Don't go to the town of woulda,coulda, shoulda.
(00:25):
You coulda had done this.
You should have done that.
Listen every week tothought-provoking wisdom from
great guests.
So if you have Spotify, itunes,pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia
or the number one podcast, ormaybe Amazon or wherever you get
(00:50):
your podcasts, turn in onWednesday and be turned on all
week long.
If you are a state associationand want your announcements or
upcoming state association newsannouncements or upcoming state
association news or maybe aco-show that's coming up, let us
(01:10):
know.
Our podcast studio phone numberis 706-409-5603.
I'm proud to be part of a greatteam at the american dorm
recovery institute.
Let's make 2025 our best yearever.
I will turn it to April.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Loomis.
Thanks, dj, I really appreciatethat.
Alright, as we promised, we'vegot a great guest here today.
We have John Bowman of Bowman'sGarage.
They're out of Lockport, newYork, three generation company
April.
They're celebrating their 75thanniversary this year.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Whoa.
I've seen on their websitewhere they're over 50 years, so
you guys need to update that toover 75 years.
Now, 75 years, that isphenomenal.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Absolutely, and John is also first vice president of
ESTRA.
As you all know, we're veryfond of ESTRA, the Empire State
Tone Recovery Association.
We work with them with training.
We also work with them.
They have one of the greatshows.
If you've never been to theirshow up in lake george, new york
, you really ought to go.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
It's a great family event it's a great family event
and it's a quality show.
You meet some good people thereif you've never met them before
, and you see some old friendsif you have absolutely, and that
show's coming up.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
So.
So, john, would you mindintroducing yourself to our
guests?
Tell us a little bit about yourbackground as well.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Yeah, my name is John Bowman Jr.
I'm the president of Bowman'sGarage, Incorporated in Lockport
, New York.
Third generation Grandfatherstarted the business in 1950.
My father took over in 84, andthen myself and my business
partner, John Kirsch, bought thebusiness from my father in 2013
(02:50):
.
My father was past presidentand vice president of Eshka and
kind of followed in hisfootsteps a bit.
I'm currently the first vicepresident.
I've been a part of theassociation since I was a little
kid, so I've also beenobviously in the towing industry
since I was a child and when Iwas born they just stand correct
(03:11):
or operate around my butt andsend me on my way.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
One of the best things.
I see in the towing industry isthat this.
I've seen this happen in otherother companies too, and it
definitely shows how muchsomebody's been brought up into
it and has worked it, how muchthey really care about the
company that they now own andthe industry itself yeah, and
that shows what your volunteerefforts with Astra it's
(03:36):
definitely a lifestyle as muchas a business.
Speaker 5 (03:39):
Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
I used to tell Wes and I still do from time to time
that we talk towing, truckingand rigging and that's pretty
much all we talk.
My wife tries to change thesubject on me.
Good luck to her.
If she's figured it out, let meknow I got you.
Speaker 3 (04:00):
So we got the Estrus show coming up.
What is this?
The 41st or the 42nd?
So?
Speaker 5 (04:05):
we got the Estrus show coming up.
What is this?
The 41st or the 42nd?
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yep, this is the 41st Estrus show.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
I'm part of the State Towing Recovery Association in
Lake George.
It's June 6th through the 8th.
We got a bunch going on thisyear.
Lake George is a good familytown.
Lots to do, especially, youknow, bring the family up.
It's a good time.
It's at the Charles EdwardWoods Park.
(04:30):
There is a couple things priorto the show.
There's an EV class Wednesdayin Schenectady and then it's
Raphael's in Albany.
They have a hazmat classThursday from 1 to 5.
It's an eight-hour hazmat class, so 1 to 5 on Thursday and 9 to
(04:56):
12.
Prior to the toe show openingat 1 o'clock on Friday Well, boy
, you're making this easy, john.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
I really appreciate it.
The EV classes we're doing withRaphael right before the show
and we're very thankful he'shosting that class and putting
it together.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
Raphael does a great job for Astra and the towing
industry itself, especially inthat Albany area.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
He looks like he really got it going on with the
videos and stuff I've seen itwas operation Absolutely.
And then can I comment realquick on the hazmat?
That's Perry Beatty Absolutely,perry.
I've known out of NorthCarolina for 30-some years.
He used to be in the tailingbusiness, got involved in
(05:37):
environmental cleanup and hashazmat responder network and if
you haven't been to one of hisclasses, I really suggest you do
.
He's going to teach you in avery simple manner, something
very simple to handle, thatyou're leaving money laying on
the ground in many cases.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
Well, and I've had a couple accidents.
Now the only way we got paidfor the whole accident was
because there was a spill and wegot a spill numbered.
So we actually got paid forremoving the vehicle that had no
collision insurance.
Obviously they can't get paidfor storage and stuff like that,
but you get paid for removingthe vehicle and causing a hazard
(06:12):
.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Yeah, absolutely, that's a great point.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
So just a little more .
On Friday we have the meet andgreet.
Friday night we have the meetand greet and we do the auction
and all that.
But it's a meet and greet.
I mean, the food's always good,you can meet everybody,
especially if you haven't beenthere before, and then you're
(06:36):
handling the auction right.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Well, we're helping.
Josie out of All-County on LongIsland has got that company
that kind of helped last year.
They're going to come in alittle stronger this year.
We're going to still do some ofour memorabilia stuff, but a
lot of the stuff they did the.
I still do some of ourmemorabilia stuff, but a lot of
the stuff they did the popculture stuff was very popular,
(07:01):
so they're going to kind ofhandle it.
I'm going to start the auctionand they're going to have a
professional auctioneer finishit all.
So if you liked it last year,you're going to love this year.
Speaker 5 (07:08):
Saturday, the show the 7th, which is really your
big main day.
At the show We've got all-daydemos.
The show's edge and judgingwill be going on, and we get
more and more trucks every yearPretty central for trucks that
come out of Vermont andMassachusetts, stuff like that,
(07:32):
which we love from all over.
We love that other states showup and help support Astra and
then Saturday they're doing theband in the park again.
That was pretty successful lastyear.
So everybody said that'ssomething we should bring back
(07:52):
and we're doing that.
So that should be a good timeand that's something we should
bring back and we're doing that,so that should be a good time.
And that's at 6 o'clock, Ibelieve.
Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, that was a great time last year.
It was really a lot of fun.
So we're going to need to takea quick break, but right after
the break I want you to talk alittle bit about Estra and what
they do throughout the year.
Can you hang around until afterthe break?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
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Speaker 4 (09:29):
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Speaker 1 (10:00):
Welcome back listeners.
You know you're listening tothe number one podcast.
This has been a great one.
I want to remind all of you toreview, like and share with your
friends.
That's the reason why we haveso many listeners and I can't
thank you enough for sharingwith each other.
(10:20):
If you want to hear anotherindustry expert like John from
Lockwood, new York and this isthird generation, but he is a
great guy we have a hotlinenumber at the podcast center,
706-409-5603, and Wes and Aprilwill do their very best to get
(10:43):
that industry expert on.
And if you have an associationyou want to promote on the
number one podcast, by all meanssubmit it and we'll be happy to
do it.
So all I wanted to ask before Iturn it over to april is ask
john, if people willing to bringsome stuff for the auction
(11:05):
could they bring it with them.
You know, on june 6th becausethis is june 6th through the 8th
and you know, in lake ge, it'sa beautiful area.
If you have never been there,folks, I'm going to tell you it
is gorgeous, it is a fun placeto be and this is a real family
show.
So, april, I'll turn it over toyou.
(11:25):
This has been a good one.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
It has been a good one.
Dj John, I wanted to ask you alittle bit about Estra and
basically it its origin story.
You said this is our 41st yearof the trade show.
How many years has Estra beenaround and what was the catalyst
that brought that on?
Speaker 5 (11:45):
So Estra was first established in 1980.
I believe it was June, rightaround there.
Yeah, june 1980.
So there was an issue.
I don't remember exactly whatit was, but it was the founding
fathers, yeah, the founding.
Yeah, owen Blow had an issuewith something.
(12:08):
The founding fathers of OwenBlow, dick Frazier, tommy
Luciano, bob Maffinero andWarren Roosevelt, Frank you're
just yeah, I always mess up hisname so they came up, they were
having some issues and they cameup with this group and they
(12:29):
figured if they worked togetherat a common goal, you know that
they could change things andthey really.
It was a big step forward andthey all stuck their neck out
for us all the benefit, theirneck out for us all to benefit.
Now, you know, now that youhave to develop, uh, you know,
network, um support amongcolleagues in the industry.
(12:49):
So, everybody, can you know, ifyou have just one idea, that
doesn't always go so far and agroup of ideas bound together,
can, you know, take it further?
Yeah, power numbers and, uh,you know, and the old adage too,
divide and conquer.
If we can all stay togetherwith a common goal and common
goals and education, we bringthe industry up.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, and we live in a day and time that any group
needs representation for the waylaws are made and the way
things are handled.
And, as I understand it, thatwas a catalyst with how Orlin
Bloom because, as I understandit he had some kind of issue and
I've heard this story time,similar stories, time and time
(13:38):
again around the country ofhardworking towing operators
running a legit towing businessand trying to interact with the
police, or how the policeinteracts with them and how they
treat them can get challengingsometimes and there was some
kind of challenge with OrlinBloom that I believe led to his
his arrest over it, you know,and he stood his ground and did
(14:01):
what he thought was right.
And the individuals youmentioned uh, you know, frank,
had future record sales heck ofa gentleman.
Uh, of course, tony luciano.
Uh, we've had him on thepodcast many times and and I
think the telling world knows, Ithink the world of him warren
roosevelt's, another classyindividual that was one of those
group that stood up for OrlinBloom and started the process to
(14:26):
start Estra.
As I understand it, warren was atowing operator from upstate
New York and I first met himjust after the turn of the
century when I served on theboard of directors at the museum
and he was part of the groupthat came down when we moved the
museum from one building to theother, was part of the group
that came down when we moved themuseum from one building to the
other.
Uh, we all spent a weektogether uh doing that.
(14:47):
He actually, I remember, hurthis wrist and went to the
hospital and came back from thehospital it was, it wasn't
something major.
I think he maybe cut himselflike I can't remember uh, but
anyway he came back from thehospital and just ran it and
raved about how nice everybodyin the chattanooga Hospital was
and how the nurses just treatedyou different than upstate New
York.
And that wasn't knockinganything, he was just saying how
(15:09):
different it was.
And when I went to some of myfirst extra shows I didn't know
a lot of people and Warren wasthere and of course he knew
everybody's one of the foundersand the man went out of his way
to make sure that I didn't havedinner by myself any of the
evenings that I became part ofhis group and just treated me
with a great respect andabundance.
(15:30):
I was at the show last year andI saw Roosevelt's truck and I
saw two individuals polishingand working on it, cleaning up
for the show and shine.
I walked up and I said yourfather was a great man, I served
with him in the museum.
Up and I said your father waswas a great man, I served with
him in the museum and the two 30something year olds I guess,
looked at each other and said oh, you're talking about granddad,
(15:50):
aren't you?
Boy, dj, I'll tell you I feltold that day uh, warren was a
great guy.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Um, I was a little kid, though at the show he gave
me a hard time.
I wasn't working hard enough,or something.
You know, all them, all themguys.
You know, without, without themand the vision that they had,
you know, astra wouldn't be whatit is today that's right, and
you guys are a lobbying force inthe state capitol.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
If something comes up about towing, uh, the
legislator looks to estra forcomment and opinion and whatnot,
which a lot of people don'trealize how important that is.
Speaker 5 (16:27):
For sure.
The president, bob Gorman, hasbeen up to Albany doing quite a
bit, getting able to get in tosee the people you need to see
and have their ear for a littlebit, and that's really what it
is.
A lot of times they only getone side.
So when they say to reach outto your legislator or you know
(16:50):
the person in your area of anissue, you really should,
because most of the time theyreally only have that one side
that they're hearing and it'snot usually favorable to us.
And once you help themunderstand where we're coming
from, it changes a lot of things.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Yeah, most of them are reasonable people and
present it with facts and makereasonable decisions.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
You know, a lot of times they don't understand
their costs of doing business,and if you help them understand
why things are what they are, um, it helps.
Speaker 4 (17:27):
yeah, I think that I think that perspective does go a
long ways.
You know, I think when they seeyou guys pull up, hook up to
something to pull off, theythink it's that easy, literally
as easily as I just said it.
That's how easy they think theythink it is no, you get that a
lot, especially with the.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
You know how far our equipment has come and our
training of operators.
You come out and you'rebringing a lot of expensive
equipment to make things happenway faster than they used to.
Um and the highly educatedoperators that we have.
(18:05):
You know there's a cost to that, you know it's.
You know, just because you werein and out in an hour where it
used to be five or six, you knowdoesn't mean it should be less.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
That efficiency and that efficiency on the side of
the road saves people in thosecars lots of time and probably,
if you're hauling something,lots of money.
That's also not really factoredinto equations when they're
talking to you guys.
Speaker 5 (18:36):
And you know the industry is still working on it,
but it's getting better atexplaining things to people
using facts you know instead ofyou know.
Back in the day I remember mygrandfather.
He'd get, you know, get mad andget to yelling and you know,
some days it was it worked inhis favors.
(18:57):
There was other days thatturned that person right off.
The more you can stay calm andhave an educated conversation
really moves the industryforward.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
One of the things I have.
That's not official yet butwe're working on it.
If I can circle back to theshow for half a second, there's
an interest and I'm all on boardfor it and none of it's
finalized yet, but we're goingto try to do a lot more for kids
this year.
So we encourage all the peoplecoming bring your families.
There'll be stuff for the kidsto do and we're talking about
(19:31):
some real interactive stuff inthe afternoon on Saturday down
there.
I guess I am trying to teasebecause we're going to be sure
we're going to do it.
We just got to work out all thelogistics.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
No, that would be a really good thing.
There's a lot of younger kidsthat are being brought up in
this industry.
My son he'd probably love itbecause he ends up working most
of the show with everybody.
My son, Anthony.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Yeah, I was going to say your son is one of the
people that I had in mind asthey were talking about this.
I totally like it and hedefinitely is a big part.
I heard you say earlier in theconversation was rolling so I
didn't want to interrupt it butyou talked about being as a as a
child, at some of the early toeshows and interacting with
warren rosewell.
(20:15):
Your son's having those sameexperiences now because he's mr
johnny on the spot all over theplace.
If somebody needs a table orsomething, he was on it helping
everybody yep, I let him knowthat he has options.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
He can do whatever he wants in life, but he still
should know how to do this incase he ever needs a backup plan
if he doesn't want to do thisfull-time.
One more thing on the showwhile we circle back um anybody
that wants to go and go right onthe esther website, um
esthernewyorkorg, and they canpre-register for the show there
(20:47):
yeah, and that's a good idea topre-register.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
And thanks for the website as well.
Uh, the host hotel.
I don't know if it's filled upyet or not, but if it isn't,
it's probably pretty close tothe stage yeah, it's generally.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
This time it's pretty close.
I'm not sure on that, but themain way to registration is
estratoshowcom and there will belinks for the hotel
recommendations on there as wellyep, there's um, there's a
hotel info at the top leftinformation for exhibitors,
hotel info and then yourregistration.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
All right, nice and slow.
Estra Toe Show Empire StateTone and Recovery Association
Toe Show Dot Estracom.
Okay, just making sure ourlisteners got it.
That's good radio talk there,isn't it DJ?
Yeah, I'd be smellingeverything, so we're looking
(21:45):
forward to seeing everybodythere.
We love the Esther show.
It's one of the only two orthree that we go to throughout
the whole year.
Beautiful area up there.
I guess it was two years agothey had that burn coming out of
Canada, all that smog comingout of Canada.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I remember that.
Speaker 5 (22:01):
It was a little smoky .
Speaker 3 (22:03):
But yeah, but we were in upstate New York a day or
two before and it was smoky.
We got up to Astro and it wasjust like God had touched the
place, because it cleared thatsmoke out just in time for the
show.
So that's what confirmed thatit's a little piece of heaven up
there and that lake regionreally is beautiful.
I don't know if that's theright term, but uh it's a
(22:33):
beautiful area, isn't it?
Speaker 5 (22:34):
yeah, it's at around the?
Um.
There's plenty to do in thatthat town.
That's where it's a vacationtown.
Uh, you got the lake.
Um, there's steamboat rides, um, you know, you get across the
street from the way, across thestreet, from the show, you have
entrance to go up to the.
You can go right up to the topof the mountain.
You can drive three quarters ofthe way up and then you take a
(22:54):
bus the rest of the way, ashuttle, all the way up to the
top.
There's all kinds of familystuff to do and I'm out enjoying
everybody's company.
And, like I said, every year wegot more and more trucks.
It's getting back to theheydays when we used to have a
hundred trucks, you know.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
And Wes had been years before, but the two years
ago was the first time I wentand um, just as a perspective,
that Lake George is big enoughto hold that trade show but it
still has that quaint small townfeel to it absolutely.
Speaker 5 (23:28):
I know there's lots within walking distance and
arcades for the kids and I don'tknow't know I go in there too.
I spend just as much money inthe arcade as my kids do.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
It feels like a safe area too when you're going up
and down those streets.
It just feels like a safeenvironment.
Speaker 5 (23:45):
Oh yeah, absolutely the Warren County sheriffs up
there.
They keep a pretty tight shipup there, minimal problems.
Like I said, I've been going upthere since I was a little kid
and I've never had an issue.
And we got security at the showfor the trucks and the
equipment and all that.
So if you're bringing somethingoff, that's all secured area in
(24:09):
the park there.
So, yeah, it's a good time.
I look forward to seeing youguys again.
Probably pick up some moreequipment, like I did last year
well, we certainly appreciatethat.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
A great family time and it's a great event to
support a great organization.
And if you're in new york andyou're not a member of esther,
you should be.
And one other comment I want tomake about the show, real quick
if I could.
You touched on it earlier, butI just want to expand a little
bit about how welcoming you guysare to all the different
affiliates from different statesand different states in that
(24:45):
northeast region that come andrepresent at your show.
It's a great feel ofcamaraderie in that direction
too.
So I just wanted to mentionthat.
Speaker 5 (25:00):
Absolutely.
We're all in this together andwe welcome, you know, everybody
from all the surrounding states.
You know, whether you just, youknow, come and attend, or if
you want to bring up, you know,truck, stuff like that, you know
we welcome everybody and we'reall in this together.
So we gotta, you know, staytogether yeah, and I'm.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
I'm mistakenly, didn't reference providences too
yeah, I was gonna say we'rereally just a drop away from
canada and definitely we've seenfriends from canada that show
over the years, so we hope wesee them again this year yeah,
no, we appreciate what you dofor for astra and the show um.
Speaker 5 (25:32):
You've been, you guys have been great and we really
really do appreciate that we'rehappy to be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (25:39):
So, everybody listening, if you're close, you
ought to, you ought to get outthere to the astra show, the.
The dates are june 6th throughthe 8th.
We look forward to seeing youthere.
We'll be up there on the 4thdoing the ev class and perry
baby will be there on the 5thand the 6th with Hazmat
Responder Network with thattraining.
So, john, thanks for takingtime out of your day to talk to
(26:01):
us and also all you do for theassociation.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
I appreciate it.
It was my pleasure.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Alright, and thanks everybody for listening.
Dj, you want to take us home.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Yes, this will be a great one, folks, if you really
want to take us home.
Yes, this will be a great one,folks, if you really want to go
to a real family reunion type ofevent, estrus where it's at and
I agree with all of you, it's agreat show and you're so
welcome, and everybody fromCanada, massachusetts, they all
come to Astro.
(26:33):
We'll see you there.
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