Page 5-C-TRI-CITY TIMES-SEPTEMBER 29, 2010
Bob Zgnilec, 74, maynot think of himself asan entrepreneur but he
is. His track record datesback to 1975.
You see, the characteris-tics of an entrepreneur areidentified in high energypeople, self-confident, disci-plined, problem solvers, peo-ple who take risks and havelearned from the ‘school ofhardknocks.’Theyacceptresponsi-bility fortheiractionsandachievesuccess ontheir ownterms.
Yes,Bob’s anentrepreneur.
I’ve known Bob for alongtime. In the early 80s asa young newspaper man I’dvisit his store to sell Bob ads.He was direct, but polite.
“What is it your paperoffers the others don’t?” Irecall him asking.
I stumbled through myprepared sales pitch with thegrace of a bull in a chinashop.
“I tell you what,” Bobtold me sternly, “I’ll give youand your paper some of mybusiness. I’m open from 6pmto 9pm, if you stop in nextweek, I’ll have an ad foryou.”
Bob did business on hison terms.
I liked Bob and a friend-ship grew. He has sinceassisted me in many projects,mainly playing a key role inhelping me secure sponsor-ship for our Woods-N-WaterNews Outdoor Weekend.Stihl Chainsaws and BryanEquipment became our firstbig sponsors, thanks to Boband his efforts. It’s just thekind of guy he is, helpingothers.
Recently Bob celebratedthe 35th anniversary of thebusiness he started,Lumberjack Shack.
“We are still servicingchain saws I sold 30 or 35years ago. Our customers arevery loyal and I’m thankfulfor that,” Bob told meproudly.
Today his son, Dave,owns the business, but Bob
is still there, sharpening sawchains, greeting customers orsweeping up the back room.
Lumberjack Shack is oneof the oldest Stihl dealers inMichigan.
Bob and his familymoved from the Utica area in1974. He and his wife Carolrecently celebrated their 50thwedding anniversary. Theyhave three children, Barb,Sandy and Dave, with 10grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
“I have always had alove for the outdoors andenjoy a good days’ work,”Bob tells me.
During the oil embargoin the 70s Bob began heatinghis home with wood as manypeople did back then.
“I guess you could saythe oil embargo got me intothe business to begin with,”he continued.
“I spent hours and hourscutting wood, I knew whichchainsaws and other woodcutting products were goodand which ones weren’t. Soit was a love of product, alove of cutting wood andhonestly, I loved to help peo-ple,” Bob told me.
In the fall of 1975 Bobstarted his business from hisbasement at home. A yearlater he opened shop on thecorner of Webster Road andVan Dyke, just south ofImlay City. He converted asmall home into what is now,Lumberjack Shack.
“I thought the name wasvery appropriate,” he toldme.
Working his day job andthen at his store by night,Bob built an impressive listof customers. He repairedand sold chainsaws, log-splitters, woodburning stovesand all the accessories.
Lumberjack Shack was
the very first of its kind inthe area.
The small business con-tinued to grow as the needand desire to burn woodgrew. Bob’s motto was sim-ple, “Cut-it, Split-it andBurn-it.”
Now remember, Bob wasusing his entrepreneurinstincts to help fill a need inthe market no one else was.People were heating theirhomes with wood, whichrequired the type of productshe was selling.
In the late 70s and early80s Bob began sponsoringwhat he called, “Saw DustDays.”
“The ‘Saw Dust Days’were very popular with ourcustomers,” Bob explained.
“Burning wood to heatyour home can be dangerous,if not done correctly. So cancutting wood with a chain-saw,” Bob went on to say.
“My customers are myfriends, I didn’t want any ofthem to get hurt from some-thing I sold them. So it wasimportant to me to make surethey understood certain safe-ty procedures and give themthe knowledge to make sureit was done correctly,” he
stressed. “The ‘Saw Dust Days’
were a good way for me tothank my customers and away for me to make surethey used the products safely.I felt it was my responsibilityto them,” Bob stated.
Bob’s philosophy rubbedoff on his son, Dave. It’s justas important today as it waswhen his father ran the busi-ness. Dave took the businessover in 1989.
Dave, as it turned out,was a natural, he is, as theysay, mechanically inclined.Working at the store with hisfather, as he often did, herebuilt his first carburetor at13 years old.
“I was impressed,” Bobtold me, “I attended all theseclasses and Dave simplygrabs some tools and doesthe job.”
Under Dave’s leadership,the Lumberjack Shack greweven larger. The store morethan tripled in size. His focusis still the Stihl chainsawbrand of products, but heoffers much more.
Today, LumberjackShack offers Arctic CatATV’s and snowmobiles, afull repair and service depart-ment for all products hesells. He has been a awardwinning Exmark lawnequipment dealer since 1993and also sells Hustler lawnand garden equipment. Theyalso offer a full line of treeclimbing equipment andsupplies.
It’s a success story. Astory of hard work. It’s astory that has been in themaking for 35 years now. Astory of a man committed tohis customers, his familyand his community.
Yes, I’d say Bob is anentrepreneur, wouldn’t you?
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And so it goes . . .
Celebrating 35 years
Bob Zgnilec, 74, is still sharpening chains enter-ing his 35th year. Bob started Lumberjack Shackin 1975.
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Dave with his father Bob shortly after he took thebusiness over in 1989.
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As is often the case,there I sat in front ofthe computer, waiting
for some wave of inspirationto hit. While I waited, Ichecked my e-mails, andfound a note from the cousin,or whatever you call him,who hosted the cousinreunion back in August. Let’ssee...his paternal grandmotherwas the oldest of twelve, mymom was her youngest sister.That means his dad is mycousin; making this guy mysecond cousin. Did I knowthis cousin existed beforeAugust? Yes, sort of. Did Iknow him? No. Not at all.
What I had found out over
the lastyear wasthat he andhis wifehad boughtandrestoredthe origi-nal home-steadwhere hisgrandpar-ents hadfarmed.When they had bought theseven acres in 1986 they hadbought it with a prayer that itwould be a blessing to theirfamily of seven children andalso to others.
He and his wife havecleaned up the place, usingtheir gifts of design and land-scaping, to create a wonderfulsanctuary-like spot. Over theyears, many groups have usedit for campfires and reunions.For nearly ten years, sixthgrade students (20 to 40 eachyear) have camped in theirbackyard. The HollandRescue mission uses it as aretreat, complete with camp-fires, games, and fishing.
In telling about their homenear what he calls Michigan’sGolden Coast, he talked aboutthe roses which were aroundthe foundation of their housewhen he and his wife bought
it. They were, in his words,diseased and bedraggled, theleaves stunted and insect-eaten. One spring, he writes,“I saw a few scraggly pinkblooms that weren’t much tolook at. I almost tore out theplants by the roots. Theywere a professional embar-rassment to me, a beginninglandscaper and flower grow-er.”
To make a long story short,no amount of discouragingwould make the roses goaway, and he finally movedthem to a sunnier, moisterspot and they thrived, stand-ing as yearly reminders oftimes past. In a paragraph
poignant to me, he writes, “Isuspect that my dear sweetgrandmother transplantedthem from somewhere else tobrighten up the yard in thosedays of struggle, sweat andtoil when the work on thefarm consumed all of theirtime and energy. Maybe, shecarried them with her fromIowa as a loving reminder ofher family there. I can pictureher stooped over, carefullyplanting them under the eavesof the house where theywould get the most water.”
Since the reason thiscousin, Deane Wassink, sentme these images of hisdomain is that I told him Iwanted to write a bit about itin the column, I’m taking theliberty to use his words. Inhis description of “the coast”
in December, he writes,“Most of us avoid it at thattime of year. I have oftenworked in snowstorms on theshore right next to the lake.There is nothing like it. Thewaves crash, and the windroars and the lake effect snowblows parallel to the ground.However, as soon as you getpast the lip of the dune in thewoods, where the white pineand hemlocks form an arborover your head, the heavysnow muffles the sound sothat you feel like you are inyour own private world, allalone. At this time,you arerequired to pause, lie down inthe snow, and let the giantflakes land on your face.”
Thanks, cuz, for helpingme out with some word pic-tures worth passing on.
WWii ll lleenneeTTaanniiss
Perspectives . . .
Word pictures can help bring this small family farm to life
Taxable results from sale of land questionAlex,
I bought a waterfront lotin another state about 30years ago for $30,000. I cur-rently have a buyer offering$280,000. I am wonderingwhat taxes I would have topay as a result of this sale.Should I sell now or wait?How long do I have to rein-vest the money towardsanother property to not payany taxes?
— M.R., Imlay City
M.R., That sale would beconsidered a long term capitalgain which would be filed onSchedule D of your tax return.You would be obligated topay the tax on the actual gainor profit from the sale. Yourprofit is determined by takingyour sales price and deductingany costs associated with thesale such as commissions,
closing fees, etc. and then tak-ing that amount and subtract-ing your basis. Your basis isusually determined by theprice you paid to buy it; how-ever you may be able to addto that basis the taxes or othercosts you paid to maintainthat property over the years.You should consult with yourtax professional before yousell. You probably will havebetween $200,000 and$250,000 in taxable gain
depending on your costs tosell and your holding costs onthat property over the last 30years. Currently long termcapital gain taxes are cappedat 15%. Next year that sametax rate is going up to 20%.Since tax rates are going upnext year and probably evenmore in future years I wouldprobably recommend sellingand closing the deal byDecember 31, 2010. Waitingone day longer, until January1, 2011 or after, will cost youan extra 5% in taxes. Sell thisyear and you would only haveto pay up to $37,500 in taxeswhile next year it would costyou up to $50,000.
Reinvesting the money inanother property to defer thetaxes can only be done bydoing a 1031 exchange. Youwould need to hire a companythat specializes in 1031
exchanges to assist you.Personally, I would not do a1031 exchange as the fees todo so would be a few thou-sand dollars plus you wouldhave to reinvest the entireprofit into more real estate. Inaddition, you are not reallyavoiding the taxes due on thatgain. You are simply deferringit over to when you sell thatnew property. At that timetaxes will surely be higherthan 15%. In these economictimes, I would pay the 15%tax and use your $200,000remaining for whatever youwant.
Alex Lengemann is alicensed Real Estate Broker whooperates RealtyVolution.com, alocal real estate company. Youcan Ask Alex your real estate ormortgage questions by phone810-664-1819 or by [email protected]
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The realestate andmortgage
expert!leave. They can be told inflight from herons as they flywith necks stuck straightahead and herons fly withnecks curved.
The West Berlin UnitedMethodist Church that I referto as “The Little Church inthe Wildwood,” has started aclass following church serv-ices called ‘Christianity’sFamily Tree’ which is beingled by Kathy O’Dell. It isvery informative and inter-esting and you certainly arewelcome for church at 11a.m. and the class starts at12:15 in the fellowship hall.So far we have studiedOrthodoxy and Catholicism.
There will be no class onOct. 3 as we are having cof-fee hour. Classes continuewith Lutheranism on Oct. 10,Presbyterianism on Oct. 17,Anglicanism on Oct. 24,Baptists on Oct. 31, Coffeehour on Nov. 7,Pentecostalism on Nov. 14and Methodism on Nov. 21.Ya’ll come!
There will be an Adventstudy for adults, “The BestSongs Come at Night” meet-ing at 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 28;Miracles Begin as Babies onDec. 5; The Best SongsCome at Night on Dec. 12;Wise Men Follow a Star onDec. 19; Christmas LastsLonger than You Think.
We would love to wel-come you.
—Country Cousin
Gertie: from page 4-C
Crawfords take onthe Crim challange
TRI-CITY AREA —The Crawford family madetheir first ever entry into theCrim Festival of Races amemorable one. Four genera-tions participated in the 10mile walk in Flint on August28 including 82 year-oldShirley Crawford of Attica,her daughter Cathy Dodge,son Carl Crawford, grandsonDavid Dodge and great-grandson Cameron Dodge.Also along for the family out-ing were Carl’s wife, Connieand her brother and sister-in-law, Randy and JeaneenSpiller.
To make the day evenmore special, Shirley walkedaway with the second placewinners cup in her age divi-sion. She clocked in at twohours, forty minutes.
“My grandson, David,wanted me do it,” Shirleysaid of entering the Crim.David, who’s run the race
before, was confident hisgrandmother would make agood showing consideringshe walks four days a week atthe Attica Twp. park.
Shirley was in the midstof getting ready for the racewhen her husband, Lee,passed away. Although shenever walked a full ten milesas part of her training, thatdidn’t seem to matter comerace day. In Flint, she walkeda 16 minute mile.
Connie said she wasimpressed with her mother-in-law’s performance duringand after the race.
“I had to hustle to keep upwith her,” Connie said.
“The next day I had blis-ters and she was wearing highheels.”
Shirley’s already lookingforward to the 2011 Crim.
“As long as I feel as wellas I do now, I’ll be there nextyear,” she said.
“It would be nice to beatmy time.”
By Maria BrownTri-City Times Assistant Editor
Four generations of Crawfords completed the 10Mile Crim walk last month. They are (l-r) DavidDodge, Shirley Crawford, Cathy Dodge, CameronDodge and Carl Crawford.
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IMLAY CITY — Local author Dana Lehman, ofAllenton, will be doing a reading and book signing at theLearning Depot on October 2 in conjunction with therelease of her third book, ‘I Can Do It.’
At 11 a.m., a local librarian will be reading Lehman’sbooks and at 1 p.m. Seven Ponds Nature Center staff willgive a presentation about the animals that appear inLehman’s books.
For more information about this event, contactLehman at 395-4535.
Book signing for local author
