By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
HOISINGTON — For the past two years, the Chevrolet dealership in Hoisington has been
operating as Ehler Chevrolet. Before that, the dealership was known as
Manweiler Chevrolet for 92 years. There were four generations of Manweilers to
own the dealership, with the last being Gene.
Before Gene retired, he attended a business boot camp in Colorado that discussed
ways to strengthen your business and make it more of a destination. Manweiler
said the course focused on highlighting the history of your company.
Wanting to
tell the story of 90-plus years of the family business, Gene began organizing
information for a book.
"It was fun to tell the story," said
Manweiler. "I did it in a way that I'm telling my family, friends and
people that know me. There are a lot of people involved with this story,
including past employees. I took what I heard about other employees
that were there before me. I heard stories from my grandparents and my
parents. That's what I relied on."
Gene took over ownership from his father in 1987. He then sold the dealership to Micah Ehler in November 2020.
Manweiler was put in contact with author Gene Stowe, based out of North
Carolina. Stowe helped Manweiler piece together the 101-page book that goes
through the dealership’s history of business changes, sales and service,
marketing and the lives of family and friends that worked at the dealership.
While Stowe wrote the book, "MChevy: The 92-Year Legacy of Manweiler Chevrolet," has Gene’s name on the front, something Manweiler wasn’t expecting.
"I
thought Stowe was going to be the author," said Manweiler. "He said to
me, 'Gene, you're the one that wrote all the stuff down, I just
organized it all for you to make it easier reading.' I was kind of
flabbergasted when I first saw the cover, because we never talked about
that. I really wanted him to get credit for it."
A copy of the book can be purchased for $15 on Amazon. Buy the book HERE.