The new Handy Toyota in St. Albans, VT continues to build

Another week has passed in the world of Handy Toyota of St. Albans and as you can see from the picture above the steel frame is taking shape for the new Handy Toyota facility.  The weather has been challenging but I must say the crew working on this element is the best.  Pete Conroy is the foreman and we could not ask for better.  The frame may be pre-engineered but is it no simple task putting it all together.  We are so excited to witness the day to day progress.  Pete and his crew are working feverishly knowing what lies ahead weather wise.  Next week I am hoping to have a picture for you of a completely framed structure ready for roof and sidewall covering.  If the weather cooperates, I am quite confident they will be successful in achieving this time line.

Last evening our sister store, Handy Chevrolet, played host to a Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce mixer.  Based on the number of folks who attended I would rate the mixer a big success.  As I was looking around the room it felt good to see the many people that share working in our business community here in the greater Saint Albans, Vermont area.  We all have a lot in common and in the final analysis we are all in business together.  Each merchant, restaurateur, banker, real estate broker/salesperson, manufacturer, health care provider, professional person, etc. work with the same folks in the same general area and in our own unique ways in an attempt to reach out to drive our businesses in a successful manner.  What these mixers are all about is to put us all in contact in a social setting with the goal that we will have the opportunity to network to our mutual benefit.  That said, I would agree that it worked for me and my opinion would be that it worked for most of the folks that attended.  In the future I will attempt to attend more of these functions.

My plan is to work outside all weekend as we will not have many more weekends before snow and (I cannot wait!) ski season will start.  Smuggler’s Notch traditionally opens the day after Thanksgiving and that is only a few short weeks away.  My gear is ready and it will be good to be on the mountain for another winter in beautiful Vermont.

My time is up for this morning.  See you next week.

The best!

Dan Luneau
Handy Toyota
St. Albans, VT  05478

Tap or scan this code to subscribe to our blog

Tap or scan this image to view our mobile blog

handycars.com joins the Fight Against Breast Cancer Walk

Those of you who keep tabs on our Facebook or by following us on Twitter @handytoyotavt might have heard that the Handy Toyota gang was at this past Sunday’s Fight Against Breast Cancer walk in South Burlington, Vermont, and not only did we all have a blast walking, donating, and fighting for a cure, but the turn out was really something special.

Folks from all walks of life and many Vermont business’ such as a team of firefighters, a team from Vermont Precision Tools in Swanton, Vermont, and Handy Toyota of St. Albans, Vermont among many others took to the streets to raise funding for one of the biggest dangers in life:  breast cancer.

Below are some photos from the event, which you can view more of on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

For more information, go to our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @handytoyotavt.

Chris Dugan
Handy Toyota
St. Albans, VT  05478

Tap or scan this code to subscribe to our blog

Tap or scan this image to view our mobile blog

Food drive update

Hello Franklin County, VT and beyond,

St. Albans City (Vermont) Representative Dustin Allard Degree recently teamed up with Handy Toyota, Handy Chevrolet, handycars.com, the St. Albans Messenger, and other local businesses and schools have teamed up to help those affected by the devastation caused by Hurricane Irene by initiating a food drive to help those affected by the storm.

Below is Representative Degree’s latest blog which you can find and follow at www.degree4stalbanscity.bloodspot.com, which explains the myriad hosts for this drive. Please note that cleaning products are also desired, so please do what you can.

Chris Dugan
Handy Toyota
www.handytoyota.com/blog/index.htm

______________________________

Neighbors,

Today was a very big day. Below is a list of locations you can drop off donations for this week’s food drive. We’re also accepting household cleaning products. Look for the information center in tomorrow’s Messenger; we will be updating it daily. For those of you with school kids, ALL schools in the Franklin Central Supervisory Union will serve as collection centers. Please send a donation with your child this week.

Collection Locations:

Handy Toyota
Handy Chevy
Paquin Ford
Paquin Collision Center
Branon’s Pool Store
Eatons Fine Jewelry
Hometown Beverage
City Hall
All Peoples Trust Locations in Franklin County

Please take the time to make a donation and contact me with any questions or if you want to help.

Rep. Dustin A. Degree

iPad Blog!

Happy Saturday Handy Fans!

For those of you who read the last blog about the Handy Toyota GM asking me to learn the ropes of the iPad, I figured I’d give you al [all] an update…

It is currently 2:39 p.m. on Saturday, October 2nd.  I am using a FREE iPad application that allows you to create full-fledged word documents, spreadsheets, even send the two types back and forth from PC to iPad.  The reason for the time stamp is so that at the end of this blog we will be able to tell how effective the use of this program is.  You also have my solemn promise that I will not go back and edit–for missed typographical errors and sic [such]–that way you, and of course I, can tell how well this could work from an airplane, car ride, etc [Editors Note:  edits will be in brackets for clarity—errors are still in place as per previous statement].

I went to the Taylor Park Wine and Fine Food Festival today and snapped a few pictures while I was there.  I thought this event was a great cap to the Summer Concert Series that took place every couple of weeks over the course of the 2010 summer, and it was also a nice transition from the “get outside” mentality of the Concert Series and a good embrace of the excellent Vermont fall, which as many of you know this is the big money-maker for Vermont as a whole.  Check out the Handy Toyota Community Events page at www.handytoyota.com/community-events.htm for some pictures, a longer description, and a great shot of the mentioned foliage, which is currently at that point of perfection where the still-dark greens, furious reds, and vibrant orange and yellows mix to a symphony of amazing colors.

In other news, September is gone, and by all indications it was a good year for Toyota around the world and locally.  Handy Toyota saw some noce [nice] numbers I’m told, and Toyota as a conglomerate saw a 16.7% increase in sales.  And though I don’t have to tell you, ever since
the attack of the recession and the slow climb out of the mud that it was, this is certainly good news.

Well that’s all from me today.  [It’s] time to continuethe [continue the] reports regarding my own process and HandyCars.com as a whole.  I must admit, though I didn’tt [didn’t] edit a bit of this, I think I just noticed an auto correct function happen… sorry.  But the time is 2:49 p.m. and for my first attempt that’s not half bad.

Until next time, Cheers!

Christopher M Dugan
Handy Toyota
cdugan@handycars.com

What’s with this weather?

While snow is not unusual in Vermont any time of the year (except maybe July) it has been a topsy-turvy couple of weeks for weather lately.  Two weeks ago our worst and most damaging snow storm of the year, last week hail, and yesterday cold with snow showers.  In between we’ve had some beautiful weather with some warm days and some cold, though, so it’s not all bad.  Oh well who knows what’s in store – we will have to wait and see.

For all those basketball fans, the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo put on a performance yesterday that will go down as one of the best of all time for the Celtics.  With the exception of Paul Pierce everyone stepped up their game, and Rondo scored over 20 points, had 15 rebounds, and dished out 18 assists.  What an incredible performance by a man who refuses to lose and who is, by the way, barely over six feet tall. Wow!

The other night Handy Toyota team was honored at the Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner and Silent Auction as the 2009 Large Business of the Year.  To quote Jamie West I can think of no business that is more deserving for the continued work in the community while providing good jobs to those willing to work.

The New York Yankees beat up the Boston Red Sox again, but these things have a way of turning themselves around as the season progresses.  I guess we will have to wait and see.  The Yankees, while playing great ball, still find themselves behind the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the overall stats.

On the cooking front I continue to experiment with Chicken Florentine recipes.  I will have something to report on the topic soon, but for now I’m finagling.  I might use this one for the Hood Cook-Off in Maine this November if it turns out well, and I am also working on different egg roll combination which look promising as well.

Kudo’s to Al’s French Fries for the recent prestigious James Beard Award.  They were voted one of America’s Best Classic Restaurants.  I guess they do represent that 1950s and ’60s era burger joint well!

Oh well that’s it for this go round, but I will be back in the blogosphere soon.

Tom “the Blogmeister” Young

Handy Toyota

St. Albans, VT 05478