American Towing and Recovery Institute onThe Go
American Towing and Recovery Institute onThe Go
Beauman's Garage Celebrates 75 Years: A Legacy of Towing Excellence
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.
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 the town of proper towing and recovery, along with our producer, chuck camp, in the studio. Don't go to the town of woulda, coulda, shoulda. You coulda had done this. You should have done that. Listen every week to thought-provoking wisdom from great guests. So if you have Spotify, itunes, pandora, stitcher, iheartmedia or the number one podcast, or maybe Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts, turn in on Wednesday and be turned on all week long. If you are a state association and want your announcements or upcoming state association news announcements or upcoming state association news or maybe a co-show that's coming up, let us know. Our podcast studio phone number is 706-409-5603. I'm proud to be part of a great team at the american dorm recovery institute. Let's make 2025 our best year ever. I will turn it to April.
Speaker 3:Loomis. Thanks, dj, I really appreciate that. Alright, as we promised, we've got a great guest here today. We have John Bowman of Bowman's Garage. They're out of Lockport, new York, three generation company April. They're celebrating their 75th anniversary this year.
Speaker 4:Whoa. I've seen on their website where they're over 50 years, so you guys need to update that to over 75 years. Now, 75 years, that is phenomenal.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and John is also first vice president of ESTRA. As you all know, we're very fond of ESTRA, the Empire State Tone Recovery Association. We work with them with training. We also work with them. They have one of the great shows. If you've never been to their show up in lake george, new york, you really ought to go.
Speaker 4:It's a great family event it's a great family event and it's a quality show. You meet some good people there if you've never met them before, and you see some old friends if you have absolutely, and that show's coming up.
Speaker 3:So. So, john, would you mind introducing yourself to our guests? Tell us a little bit about your background as well.
Speaker 5:Yeah, my name is John Bowman Jr. I'm the president of Bowman's Garage, Incorporated in Lockport, New York. Third generation Grandfather started the business in 1950. My father took over in 84, and then myself and my business partner, John Kirsch, bought the business from my father in 2013. My father was past president and vice president of Eshka and kind of followed in his footsteps a bit. I'm currently the first vice president. I've been a part of the association since I was a little kid, so I've also been obviously in the towing industry since I was a child and when I was born they just stand correct or operate around my butt and send me on my way.
Speaker 4:One of the best things. I see in the towing industry is that this. I've seen this happen in other other companies too, and it definitely shows how much somebody's been brought up into it and has worked it, how much they really care about the company that they now own and the industry itself yeah, and that shows what your volunteer efforts with Astra it's definitely a lifestyle as much as a business.
Speaker 5:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 4:I used to tell Wes and I still do from time to time that we talk towing, trucking and rigging and that's pretty much all we talk. My wife tries to change the subject on me. Good luck to her. If she's figured it out, let me know I got you.
Speaker 3:So we got the Estrus show coming up. What is this? The 41st or the 42nd? So?
Speaker 5:we got the Estrus show coming up. What is this? The 41st or the 42nd?
Speaker 1:Yep, this is the 41st Estrus show.
Speaker 5: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 this year. Lake George is a good family town. Lots to do, especially, you know, bring the family up. It's a good time. It's at the Charles Edward Woods Park. There is a couple things prior to the show. There's an EV class Wednesday in Schenectady and then it's Raphael's in Albany. They have a hazmat class Thursday from 1 to 5. It's an eight-hour hazmat class, so 1 to 5 on Thursday and 9 to 12. Prior to the toe show opening at 1 o'clock on Friday Well, boy, you're making this easy, john.
Speaker 3:I really appreciate it. The EV classes we're doing with Raphael right before the show and we're very thankful he's hosting that class and putting it together.
Speaker 5:Raphael does a great job for Astra and the towing industry itself, especially in that Albany area.
Speaker 3:He looks like he really got it going on with the videos and stuff I've seen it was operation Absolutely. And then can I comment real quick on the hazmat? That's Perry Beatty Absolutely, perry. I've known out of North Carolina for 30-some years. He used to be in the tailing business, got involved in environmental cleanup and has hazmat responder network and if you haven't been to one of his classes, I really suggest you do. He's going to teach you in a very simple manner, something very simple to handle, that you're leaving money laying on the ground in many cases.
Speaker 5:Well, and I've had a couple accidents. Now the only way we got paid for the whole accident was because there was a spill and we got a spill numbered. So we actually got paid for removing the vehicle that had no collision insurance. Obviously they can't get paid for storage and stuff like that, but you get paid for removing the vehicle and causing a hazard.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely, that's a great point.
Speaker 5:So just a little more. On Friday we have the meet and greet. Friday night we have the meet and 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 been there before, and then you're handling the auction right.
Speaker 3:Well, we're helping. Josie out of All-County on Long Island has got that company that kind of helped last year. They're going to come in a little stronger this year. We're going to still do some of our memorabilia stuff, but a lot of the stuff they did the. I still do some of our memorabilia stuff, but a lot of the stuff they did the pop culture stuff was very popular, so they're going to kind of handle it. I'm going to start the auction and they're going to have a professional auctioneer finish it all.
Speaker 3:So if you liked it last year, you're going to love this year.
Speaker 5:Saturday, the show the 7th, which is really your big main day. At the show We've got all-day demos. The show's edge and judging will be going on, and we get more and more trucks every year Pretty central for trucks that come out of Vermont and Massachusetts, stuff like that, which we love from all over. We love that other states show up and help support Astra and then Saturday they're doing the band in the park again. That was pretty successful last year. So everybody said that's something we should bring back and we're doing that. So that should be a good time and 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, I believe.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that was a great time last year. It was really a lot of fun. So we're going to need to take a quick break, but right after the break I want you to talk a little bit about Estra and what they do throughout the year. Can you hang around until after the break?
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Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. You know you're listening to the number one podcast. This has been a great one. I want to remind all of you to review, like and share with your friends. That's the reason why we have so many listeners and I can't thank you enough for sharing with each other.
Speaker 1:If you want to hear another industry expert like John from Lockwood, new York and this is third generation, but he is a great guy we have a hotline number at the podcast center, 706-409-5603, and Wes and April will do their very best to get that industry expert on. And if you have an association you want to promote on the number one podcast, by all means submit it and we'll be happy to do it. So all I wanted to ask before I turn it over to april is ask john, if people willing to bring some stuff for the auction could they bring it with them. You know, on june 6th because this is june 6th through the 8th and you know, in lake ge, it's a beautiful area. If you have never been there, folks, I'm going to tell you it is gorgeous, it is a fun place to be and this is a real family show. So, april, I'll turn it over to you. This has been a good one.
Speaker 4:It has been a good one. Dj John, I wanted to ask you a little bit about Estra and basically it its origin story. You said this is our 41st year of the trade show. How many years has Estra been around and what was the catalyst that brought that on?
Speaker 5:So Estra was first established in 1980. I believe it was June, right around there. Yeah, june 1980. So there was an issue. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was the founding fathers, yeah, the founding. Yeah, owen Blow had an issue with something.
Speaker 5:The founding fathers of Owen Blow, dick Frazier, tommy Luciano, bob Maffinero and Warren Roosevelt, Frank you're just yeah, I always mess up his name so they came up, they were having some issues and they came up with this group and they figured if they worked together at a common goal, you know that they could change things and they really. It was a big step forward and they all stuck their neck out for us all the benefit, their neck out for us all to benefit. Now, you know, now that you have to develop, uh, you know, network, um support among colleagues in the industry. So, everybody, can you know, if you have just one idea, that doesn't always go so far and a group 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 together with a common goal and common goals and education, we bring the industry up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and we live in a day and time that any group needs representation for the way laws are made and the way things are handled. And, as I understand it, that was a catalyst with how Orlin Bloom because, as I understand it he had some kind of issue and I've heard this story time, similar stories, time and time again around the country of hardworking towing operators running a legit towing business and trying to interact with the police, or how the police interacts with them and how they treat them can get challenging sometimes and there was some kind of challenge with Orlin Bloom that I believe led to his his arrest over it, you know, and he stood his ground and did what he thought was right. And the individuals you mentioned uh, you know, frank, had future record sales heck of a gentleman. Uh, of course, tony luciano. Uh, we've had him on the podcast many times and and I think the telling world knows, I think the world of him warren roosevelt's, another classy individual that was one of those group that stood up for Orlin Bloom and started the process to start Estra.
Speaker 3:As I understand it, warren was a towing operator from upstate New York and I first met him just after the turn of the century when I served on the board of directors at the museum and he was part of the group that came down when we moved the museum from one building to the other, was part of the group that came down when we moved the museum from one building to the other. Uh, we all spent a week together uh doing that. He actually, I remember, hurt his wrist and went to the hospital and came back from the hospital it was, it wasn't something major. I think he maybe cut himself like I can't remember uh, but anyway he came back from the hospital and just ran it and raved about how nice everybody in the chattanooga Hospital was and how the nurses just treated you different than upstate New York. And that wasn't knocking anything, he was just saying how different it was.
Speaker 3:And when I went to some of my first extra shows I didn't know a lot of people and Warren was there and of course he knew everybody's one of the founders and the man went out of his way to make sure that I didn't have dinner by myself any of the evenings that I became part of his group and just treated me with a great respect and abundance. I was at the show last year and I saw Roosevelt's truck and I saw two individuals polishing and working on it, cleaning up for the show and shine. I walked up and I said your father was a great man, I served with him in the museum. Up and I said your father was was a great man, I served with him in the museum and the two 30 something year olds I guess, looked at each other and said oh, you're talking about granddad, aren't you? Boy, dj, I'll tell you I felt old that day uh, warren was a great guy.
Speaker 5: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 them guys. You know, without, without them and the vision that they had, you know, astra wouldn't be what it is today that's right, and you guys are a lobbying force in the state capitol.
Speaker 3:If something comes up about towing, uh, the legislator looks to estra for comment and opinion and whatnot, which a lot of people don't realize how important that is.
Speaker 5:For sure. The president, bob Gorman, has been up to Albany doing quite a bit, getting able to get in to see the people you need to see and have their ear for a little bit, and that's really what it is. A lot of times they only get one side. So when they say to reach out to your legislator or you know the person in your area of an issue, you really should, because most of the time they really only have that one side that they're hearing and it's not usually favorable to us. And once you help them understand where we're coming from, it changes a lot of things.
Speaker 3:Yeah, most of them are reasonable people and present it with facts and make reasonable decisions.
Speaker 5: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:yeah, I think that I think that perspective does go a long ways. You know, I think when they see you guys pull up, hook up to something to pull off, they think it's that easy, literally as easily as I just said it. That's how easy they think they think it is no, you get that a lot, especially with the.
Speaker 5:You know how far our equipment has come and our training of operators. You come out and you're bringing a lot of expensive equipment to make things happen way faster than they used to. Um and the highly educated operators that we have. You know there's a cost to that, you know it's. You know, just because you were in and out in an hour where it used to be five or six, you know doesn't mean it should be less.
Speaker 4:That efficiency and that efficiency on the side of the road saves people in those cars lots of time and probably, if you're hauling something, lots of money. That's also not really factored into equations when they're talking to you guys.
Speaker 5:And you know the industry is still working on it, but it's getting better at explaining things to people using facts you know instead of you know. Back in the day I remember my grandfather. He'd get, you know, get mad and get to yelling and you know, some days it was it worked in his favors. There was other days that turned that person right off. The more you can stay calm and have an educated conversation really moves the industry forward.
Speaker 3:One of the things I have. That's not official yet but we're working on it. If I can circle back to the show for half a second, there's an interest and I'm all on board for it and none of it's finalized yet, but we're going to try to do a lot more for kids this year. So we encourage all the people coming bring your families. There'll be stuff for the kids to do and we're talking about some real interactive stuff in the afternoon on Saturday down there. I guess I am trying to tease because we're going to be sure we're going to do it. We just got to work out all the logistics.
Speaker 5:No, that would be a really good thing. There's a lot of younger kids that are being brought up in this industry. My son he'd probably love it because he ends up working most of the show with everybody. My son, Anthony.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was going to say your son is one of the people that I had in mind as they were talking about this. I totally like it and he definitely is a big part. I heard you say earlier in the conversation was rolling so I didn't want to interrupt it but you talked about being as a as a child, at some of the early toe shows and interacting with warren rosewell. Your son's having those same experiences now because he's mr johnny on the spot all over the place. If somebody needs a table or something, he was on it helping everybody yep, I let him know that he has options.
Speaker 5:He can do whatever he wants in life, but he still should know how to do this in case he ever needs a backup plan if he doesn't want to do this full-time. One more thing on the show while we circle back um anybody that wants to go and go right on the esther website, um esthernewyorkorg, and they can pre-register for the show there yeah, and that's a good idea to pre-register.
Speaker 3:And thanks for the website as well. Uh, the host hotel. I don't know if it's filled up yet or not, but if it isn't, it's probably pretty close to the stage yeah, it's generally.
Speaker 5:This time it's pretty close. I'm not sure on that, but the main way to registration is estratoshowcom and there will be links for the hotel recommendations on there as well yep, there's um, there's a hotel info at the top left information for exhibitors, hotel info and then your registration.
Speaker 3:All right, nice and slow. Estra Toe Show Empire State Tone and Recovery Association Toe Show Dot Estracom. Okay, just making sure our listeners got it. That's good radio talk there, isn't it DJ? Yeah, I'd be smelling everything, so we're looking forward to seeing everybody there. We love the Esther show. It's one of the only two or three that we go to throughout the whole year. Beautiful area up there. I guess it was two years ago they had that burn coming out of Canada, all that smog coming out of Canada. Yes.
Speaker 1:I remember that.
Speaker 5:It was a little smoky.
Speaker 3: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 was just like God had touched the place, because it cleared that smoke out just in time for the show. So that's what confirmed that it's a little piece of heaven up there and that lake region really is beautiful. I don't know if that's the right term, but uh it's a beautiful area, isn't it?
Speaker 5:yeah, it's at around the? Um. There's plenty to do in that that town. That's where it's a vacation town. Uh, you got the lake. Um, there's steamboat rides, um, you know, you get across the street from the way, across the street, from the show, you have entrance to go up to the. You can go right up to the top of the mountain. You can drive three quarters of the way up and then you take a bus the rest of the way, a shuttle, all the way up to the top. There's all kinds of family stuff to do and I'm out enjoying everybody's company. And, like I said, every year we got more and more trucks. It's getting back to the heydays when we used to have a hundred trucks, you know.
Speaker 4:And Wes had been years before, but the two years ago was the first time I went and um, just as a perspective, that Lake George is big enough to hold that trade show but it still has that quaint small town feel to it absolutely.
Speaker 5:I know there's lots within walking distance and arcades for the kids and I don't know't know I go in there too. I spend just as much money in the arcade as my kids do.
Speaker 4:It feels like a safe area too when you're going up and down those streets. It just feels like a safe environment.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah, absolutely the Warren County sheriffs up there. They keep a pretty tight ship up there, minimal problems. Like I said, I've been going up there since I was a little kid and I've never had an issue. And we got security at the show for the trucks and the equipment and all that. So if you're bringing something off, that's all secured area in the park there. So, yeah, it's a good time. I look forward to seeing you guys again. Probably pick up some more equipment, like I did last year well, we certainly appreciate that.
Speaker 3:A great family time and it's a great event to support a great organization. And if you're in new york and you're not a member of esther, you should be. And one other comment I want to make about the show, real quick if I could. You touched on it earlier, but I just want to expand a little bit about how welcoming you guys are to all the different affiliates from different states and different states in that northeast region that come and represent at your show. It's a great feel of camaraderie in that direction too. So I just wanted to mention that.
Speaker 5:Absolutely. We're all in this together and we welcome, you know, everybody from all the surrounding states. You know, whether you just, you know, come and attend, or if you want to bring up, you know, truck, stuff like that, you know we welcome everybody and we're all in this together. So we gotta, you know, stay together yeah, and I'm.
Speaker 3:I'm mistakenly, didn't reference providences too yeah, I was gonna say we're really just a drop away from canada and definitely we've seen friends from canada that show over the years, so we hope we see them again this year yeah, no, we appreciate what you do for for astra and the show um.
Speaker 5:You've been, you guys have been great and we really really do appreciate that we're happy to be a part of it.
Speaker 3:So, everybody listening, if you're close, you ought to, you ought to get out there to the astra show, the. The dates are june 6th through the 8th. We look forward to seeing you there. We'll be up there on the 4th doing the ev class and perry baby will be there on the 5th and the 6th with Hazmat Responder Network with that training. So, john, thanks for taking time out of your day to talk to us and also all you do for the association.
Speaker 5:I appreciate it. It was my pleasure.
Speaker 4:Alright, and thanks everybody for listening. Dj, you want to take us home.
Speaker 1: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 of event, estrus where it's at and I agree with all of you, it's a great show and you're so welcome, and everybody from Canada, massachusetts, they all come to Astro. We'll see you there.