A new year is the time of year to assess one’s assets and be grateful for friends and family, having just celebrated the holiday season.

In this region preparation for snow and cold weather, including car care is part of surviving the season. All these seasonal items bring to mind an “institution” in Dunkirk, which many consider quite special, epitomizing some good hometown values. The place is called Ralph’s Pennzoil at Fifth and Park.

Miriam Webster’s dictionary defines “institution” as “a place where an organization takes care of people for an usually long period of time; a custom, practice or behavioral pattern of importance in the life of a community.” That’s Ralph’s place!

Ralph’s Pennzoil is owned and operated by Ralph Dolce. This establishment was first a Texaco station on the corner of Main/Maple and Sixth owned by Dutch Comello. Ralph grew up nearby and worked for Dutch, who took Ralph under his wing while he was in high school and college.

In 1972, when Ralph graduated from SUNY Fredonia with a degree in psychology, Dutch had decided to retire and offered this business opportunity to Ralph. “And the rest is history,” says Dolce.

Ownership of the station became the start of a lifetime career that would support his family: wife, Dolores, and two daughters. In 1986, the business moved to its current location to accommodate the reconfiguration of the streets at the previous complicated intersection. For 42 years, Ralph has delivered on his business philosophy to “treat people fairly, offer the best service, and take care of any problems.”

He is very modest and reluctant to think that the service and ambiance of Ralph’s Pennzoil is any different than other places. He even declined a request for a photo of himself for this story, but truth be told, problems big and small get solved on this corner every day and customers leave happy and satisfied. We can rejoice if other businesses are just as good and just as much fun as Ralph’s.

Here are represented the values of neighborhood, childhood bonds of friendship, hard work, fairness, and good humor. Where else can you find all these packaged under one roof? Ralph Dolce, Bob Kachermeyer and Tony Kucmierz are the car caretakers here, the guys to go to when your car is not going.

Tony has worked there about six years and has earned his own cartoon on the waiting room wall expressing his “enthusiasm” for working on Smart Cars. The feature of the work environment at Ralph’s Tony most appreciates is the small-town feeling, knowing most of the clientele, and enjoying the people he works with, many of whom he has grown up with in Dunkirk.

Ralph Dolce and Bob Kachermeyer grew up on the same block, the 600 block of Main Street. Bob reports the boys in the neighborhood were always working on cars. His mom, Minerva, was known to all the kids as “Ma.” It was a time when doors could be left unlocked and neighbors watched out for all the kids as their own.

Bob has worked for Ralph since 1988. He has a band and plays in off hours but he readily admits to the pleasure he obtains from diagnosing and fixing mechanical problems here at the shop. He is grateful for the opportunities that Ralph provides for ongoing updates related to auto technology.

Customers are longtime and loyal in their patronage. Most have moved into a friendship circle, returning for years. Ralph sets just this kind of tone. One customer moved to Rochester yet still returns to service his car here and interact with the guys. The coffee pot is always on and there is a seemingly endless supply of donuts or baked goods from grateful customers. (Tony loves the peanut butter cookies the best.)

The waiting area is not fancy, but reflects an endearing man-cave kind of atmosphere surrounded by symbols and tools of the trade. And it is here that friends gather and laughter is in abundance. Bob compares the sparring to a Mayberry kind of ambiance and says, “We pick on each other and there is a lot of bull, but we are good friends.”

It is this camaraderie that is so special, reflected in the posted notes and spoofs on long time friends hung along the walls. One of the group is a professional comedian so it is easy to surmise that lots of raw material for his jokes is generated here in Ralph’s waiting room. There is a “Saturday cluster” of friends and customers who gather for the gift of gab while work progresses in the shop. Even Mayor A.J. Dolce (Ralph’s nephew) drops in on occasion.

So as the new year begins, I am grateful for the good old boys from the good old neighborhood running a good old business. All are blessings, for sure.

Skeeter Tower is a Dunkirk resident.