From time to time, we receive emails, letters and phone calls from previous clients who have something to say about their past experiences with our company. One day, I even had someone knock on my truck window while I was parked on the street. Since the launch of our new website last month, we’ve noticed quite an increase in these surprise, but welcome connections.

Agnes wrote:
I remembered the various guys who became part of our family while they worked here.  Especially I enjoyed the remembrances of Mr. Martin himself.  I have some of those stories too. In his first job for us, the deck at the back of our house in 1975, he asked “Do you want Cedar?”
“SHOULD we want cedar?”, we asked
“If you don’t want cedar,” he replied, “I don’t want your job.”
He also said if you are good, you don’t need to advertise. But I guess that was then, and times have changed. You have kept the standards, while moving with the times. Congratulations!

Herb knocked on my truck window one day while I was out to see a current client. He is a man in his 80’s with a lot of spunk and years of wisdom. He had fond memories of Menno Martin, the founder of our company. Herb recalled that Menno arbitrated a dispute with the builder of his home and was the only contractor willing to replace all the faulty windows in Herb’s one year old home.

“He spoke truth and stepped up for what was right” Herb would go on to tell me.

Herb also enjoyed speaking German with Menno; he tried a few lines on me but my ‘deer in the headlights’ look was a clear indication that I had no idea what he was saying.

Menno S. Martin Cottage Renovation, 1987

We also heard from Andi, a former employee of Menno S. Martin. He sent us this photo from a cottage renovation at Eagle Lake Island, circa 1987! On a 5-day canoe trip to the area this summer, Andi & his wife Dorothy dropped by the cottage to chat with the owner and see how it was holding up. Of course, Andi also remembered working with Larry Shoemaker, one of our longtime carpenters. Andi recalls he truly enjoyed working with Larry and found him to be a “great supervisor”!

Twenty six years later and Larry is still a great supervisor with us!

We love to receive these notes, these knocks on the window and especially the photos from the past. Please keep them coming!

What we do now is not that much different from that of our founder Menno S. Martin. He instilled great values in his employees, values that continue to drive our company today.

– Art