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EUSTIS LAKE REGION NEWS, EUST1S. LAKE COUNTY, FLORIDA.junty st of rying ; Ex-st atcomeitions■assess hePEOPLE AROUND TOWNIILaRoe Machine ShopRealal in New imps,i forgrasslanddium crop-tt issub-Example of Family Businessures,dolo-suf-e pHi per grass theVi touselime-few i seedneralundsnilart use acra. and is on r on n re-t allwIiahia te ofand is. Atach-lant-igola,Au-geta-tingsterediscedickerRoe set up a small shop in a garage on his property. He increased his income by repairing orange grove equipment for his neighbors.The word of his good work spread and now he serves not only his neighbors but their friends and neighbors.Their business expanded until it was necessary to build larger quarters and they moved into their new location in April of last year.Mr. LoRoe was a railroad blacksmith by trade.Mrs. LaRoe has two major interests in her life outside of the Jbusiness. One is fishing (and that’s where you'll find her every afternoon)—and the other is the Eustis Home Demonstration Club. Mrs. LaRoe has served as president of the local club and president of the county council and always takes an active part in the work of the organization.The LaRoes had four boys and one girl and they have 10 grandchildren. One son, James, was reported missing in action during the past war. All the other boys work with their parents. The girl, Elta, is now Mrs. Joe Busby of Gainesville and recently became the mother of a daugh ter, Kay Ellen. Little Kay ha three brothers.All the LaRoe children art graduates of Eustis high school and the sons liva within a mile and a half of each other.YT* ‘ * -/i: - ' ___Town Hall of the AirThe Lake County Town Hall of the Air program for Thursday, June 15. will discuss the subject: Playing This Summer, discussion of the Lake County Rutnmerjpr• reation program. The prW*m will be participated in by Dor Allen, Leesburg, Tom Burgess Mount Dora, Vic Larson and Hall Jackson of Leesburg, Mrs. Betti Stokes, Clermont, Drennen Browne, Groveland and W. A. Vincent, Mount Dora.The program will be broadcast by remote control from the facilities installed in the offices of theLake County Chamber of Commerce from 7:15 to 7:45 Thursday,June 15 over radio station WLBE with Karl Lehmann serving asmoderator.Make Eustis Your ShoppingCenter and Patronize Advertisers of Eustis News.vgrassilatedarpetished• soil been cated 600 houldrntial. lowed veeds. refer-ruaryounds imilar ctures lually ids ofcoun-i from isrrie. ig the Id. In anned ishing with sk forBy Marie Bolles tThe LaRoe Machine Shop on the DeLand Road is truly a family affair.With Mr. Earl LaRoe at the I helm, his sons, Clarence, Glen, Forest and Earl and grandson. Earl Eugene and Mrs. Earl LaRoe all join forces to make the machinery of the machine company function smoothly.Their new building, which is 105 by 85 feet, houses necessary equipment and parts for all kinds of machinery work, welding, building and repair of farm j and grove implements and truck*, building and installation of irrigation systems. jAbout the only time of day to i find the entire family together is about 7 o'clock in the morn- j ing. For soon after that, they divide forces to go about their' separate businesses.Mr. LaRoe is the official buyer and he attends almost all the surplus sales in this vicinity. The boys take rare of the machine and grove work and Mrs. LaRoe is bookkeeper.During the war. the machine shop was converted for war work and was featured in about 53 newspapers and magazines.Especially cited for her prow- i ess in the field of machinery was Mrs. LaRoe who was featured in women in war work as she processed vital parts and made gears for aircraft equipment.When war started LaRoe had more right than most men to feel(NEWS photo)\v \that he already had done his part —he had three sons in the Army —one in the Philippines. But he wanted to do more, so he went after and obtained a subcontract.To do the work he had contracted for, he needed additional power tools. He found plenty of them stored away in garages and warehouses and even in junk piles. He bought those he needed and he and his son, Clarence put them into working order. They converted one old lathe for high speed work by using the transmission of a junked car— and another by using parts from an old washing machine. Five weeks after they started retooling they were ready to start work on their subcontract.LaRoe and Clarence worked 18 hours a day, but found that they couldn't keep up with their production schedule. LaRoe's sister. Ruby Laurence, was visiting him. He gave her a suit of dungarees and put her to work watching' a lathe. She was a grandmother —but liked the job and even gamed weight.Still LaRoe didn’t have enough “manpower to keep up with his stiff schedule, so Clarences attractive wife was drafted. After that she was joined by Mrs. LaRoe.The housework was carried on by “Granny La Roe. who passed away last December.Even Earl Eugene made himself useful by carrying to the scrap pile the steel shavings turned off by the lathes. jLittle did Earl LaRoe dream when he came to Florida 30 years ago and bought an orange grove that the story of his work in a [ backyard six car garage would be carried over the nation.The LaRoes first came to Eustis in 1917 to visit her parents,1 Mr. and Mrs. Earl Crooks. How-1 ever, they went back to Terrell, Texas and Akron, Ohio before they finally decided that Eustis is the best place in the world. Earl always thanks his wife for making the decision to live here and thinks it is one of her outstanding contributions to theworld.- -Finally settling here in 1920. they have lived here ever aince with the exception of two yean when they tried the North again .... always to come back to God’s country.”After working with the AutoInn for several months, Mr. La-Sunbeam Electric Razor ........ $24.50Zippo Lighter ................................ 3.00Yardley Shaving Bowl ................ 1.10Town Travel Kit ................... 2.49Ball Point Pena .............................. .98Nylon Shaving Brushes ............. 1.98Kaywoody Pipes ................ $1.00 to 5.00Make gout selection* earkgand let us gift-wrap!Law’s PharmacyBay and MagnoliaPhone 140, Eustis .. III ------at.
Newspaper Details
Eustis Lake Region News
Eustis, Florida, US
Thu, Jun 15, 1950
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 18 Nov 2018
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