Back when White Rose gasoline was 10 cents a gallon in 1937,

Bill Hannon opened a one-bay service station which today remains a vibrant cornerstone of the Grey County farming community of Badjeros.  Bill Hannon’s Service Station has evolved over the past 75 years into Hannon’s Service Centre, which is located on Grey County Road 9, west of the well-travelled and often snowy Highway 124.

The Hannon family business and trademark customer service spans four generations. Bill’s son, Mel, started working at the garage on a full-time basis in 1948 and remained a steady influence until 2011. Mel’s son, Rick, a Fanshawe College graduate in 1976, began working at the service station while still in high school and took over the reins in the mid-1990s. His son, Reid, a grad of Georgian College’s Automotive Marketing program, joined the station in 2008 and also spent his high school years learning the automotive trade.

Bill Hannon opened the garage in June, 1937, just as the economy was slowly climbing out of the depths of the Great Depression. A former roads’ maintenance worker, Bill fixed automobiles and farm machinery in his upstart enterprise until his untimely death in 1948 at age 49. Mel, along with his brother, Mac, continued to operate the business as Hannon Brothers Service Station. During the early 1950s, Mel steered the business solely and started raising a family with wife, Lois. The service station sold White Rose gasoline from 1937 to 1964. When Shell took over White Rose in 1964, the service station became officially known as Hannon’s Shell until the pumps were retired in 2005. The garage has been rebranded as Hannon’s Service Centre ever since.

The transformation of the automobile from cars and trucks with rudimentary, yet rugged, crank engines to sophisticated vehicles featuring complex computer systems has been witnessed by the service centre since the garage doors were opened prior to the Second World War. Along the winding road of time, the Hannons have adapted to embrace new and emerging technologies and methods in becoming a full-range, three-bay service station serving residents of Grey, Dufferin and Simcoe counties and beyond. Several major additions were connected to the original structure, including a 1962 renovation which doubled the existing space. The business operates six days a week, from Monday to Saturday, and specializes in automotive maintenance which includes major repairs, oil changes, tune-ups, brakes, tires, towing, and dripless undercoating. A diverse portfolio of products and services are offered.

Over the years, the garage has welcomed numerous dedicated and talented individuals into the family business, including a young Dawn Scott, one of the region’s first female mechanics, who remained within the fold for 22 years. Local resident and mechanic Dave Briggs is currently working at the service centre alongside Rick and Reid.