About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2011)
ASHLEY DILLARD. AUTO REPAIR SHOP OWNER FP: So, you've been here your whole life? AD: Been here my whole life. FP: And did you always work with your dad in the car shop? AD: Pretty much, yeah. Ever since I was old enough to pump gas. We used to have a shop in Five Points where the yogurt store is now. FP: You mentioned you have two degrees in forestry from UGA. Why did you choose not to use them? AD: I had planned on it. That's what I really wanted to do. My dad was ready to retire, and I kind of didn't want to see a good thing go to somebody else, and we bought it from him; Joey and I, bought it from my dad. Ashley Dillard and his brother Joey own Five Star Automotive and Five Star Alignment on Macon Highway. They have kept the business in the family: their father and younger brother work for them. Ashley emphasizes the importance of honest work, yearly checkups for cars, and technical training. He sees the blue col lar worker as the person who keeps America running. Flagpole: Is your family from Athens? Ashley Dillard: We are. My dad has been here all his life, and my mom moved here when she was nine from Tifton. So, they've been here. My grandfather was with the Agricultural Extension and Forestry at the university until he retired in, I think, '80. And then my dad's dad has always worked with cars in dealerships, and old-school, that used to be downtown... that's where he worked. I guess that's how my dad got into the car business. FP: Do you hope to teach your son like your dad taught you? AD: Yeah, yeah. I hope so. You know, it's just the little things that everybody needs to know about their cars that can help you out in the future, just the everyday maintenance stuff that you can do yourself. It's good to learn. But maybe they won't need as much as we've learned over the past. But I'm not a mechanic. I don't claim to know everything about cars. We know enough, now. We're like the service writers. The dealers have a service writer, shop foreman and the techs and every thing, and we kind of have to do a little bit of everything. FP: Do you think it built character for you as a kid to come in here and learn things? AD: Yeah, yeah. It's always good to know a trade, some sort of skill. A lot of people go to college, go straight through, and never really learn how to do something. The first two years of my college was learning nothing but soci ology and psychology, and if you're not going to go into a field like that... it helps you be a little better well-rounded as a person, but you need to learn how to do something. That's the way I feel. I think the tech colleges are still so important... Everybody kind of looks down on the blue-collar worker, but that's what keeps America going, whether you like it or not. FP: But your dad still works at the place down the street? AD: We opened that place, Five Star Alignment, up about three years ago just to kind of... really ran out of room to do everything. Just try ing to stay in business to do complete car care, so we do all the heavy repair work up here, and they do all the tires and brakes. I call it the gravy work. And we asked him and my little brother to come in with us and run it. FP: So, he didn't stay retired long. AD: No, he likes it, though. He said he likes working for us instead of working for himself. He doesn't have to make any of the real hard decisions. FP: Do you get to tell your dad what to do? AD: To a certain extent, yeah... Joey Dillard: [Chiming in] Whether he listens or not... AD: ...You kind of got to tiptoe around some stuff. It's part of doing business with family. FP: Do either of you have any children who you hope wilt be involved with the business someday? AD: It depends. I've got a two-and-a-half-year-old girl—I don't think she'll have anything to do with it, but she might— and a one-and-a-half-year-old boy. We all grew up working here a little bit at a time. I took shop class in high school, Lat you learn more here in two weeks than you would in a class, just watching the mechanics who have been here throughout the years and done a real good job. FP: You mentioned ear lier that you don't go down town very often. What do you like and dislike about Athens? AD: I don't think we got that kind of time. [Laughs] I like the small-town feel... The university is really neat. We do a lot of student business. We've got a lot of parents in Atlanta and all over the country, really, that we deal with on a regular basis... I do live in Watkinsville now... It is a very small town. Watkinsville is a neat little town. It's got as much history as Athens, if not more. I mean, that's where they wanted to put the University of Georgia is in Watkinsville, but they had a bar. They had the Eagle Tavern, and they didn't want the university near an area with a bar. It's right there on Main Street. It's still there. And it's funny because up until five years ago, Oconee County was a dry county. There were no bars, and you couldn't buy alcohol or anything. Obviously, things change, but it was like a complete opposite of what they envisioned the univer sity to be. FP: What do you do besides work on cars? AD: I watch the kids. That's about it. I love to fish. My dad and my little brother are both captains, and they spend as much time on the water as possible, and I try to, too, but it's hard with the kids. FP: What is it like being a father to young children? AD: It's very fun. It's kind of aggravating sometimes. You're so used to being yourself, and then you have kids, and it's not about you anymore. It's about the kids. Emily Patrick FP: Do you consider yourself a blue-collar worker? AD: Yeah. Sure. We're the ones out there getting greasy and dirty. We've got to keep everybody moving. jA, MI Cr K Monday PIZZA & BEER SPECIALS $10 Large One Topping Pizzas $6 Pitchers ALL DAY of Bud, Bud Light, Yuengling & Miller Lite Wednesday WING DAY 50 Cent Wings and $6 Pitchers I $2 PINTS ALL DRAFTS 7pm-2am Friday, July 22 LIVE MUSIC with Eyes Lips Eyes NO COVER $3 Wells • $3 Draft Pint • $3.50 Bombs Saturday, July 23 LIVE JUKE JOINT BLUES with John Sosebee NO COVER $3 Wells • $3 Draft Pint • $3.50 Bombs Sunday HAPPY HOUR ALL DAY Full Contact Trivia starts at 9pm HAPPY HOUR 3-7pm $3 Wells • $3 Craft Beer Pints $2 Select Domestic Bottles 233 E. CLAYTON ST. 706.353.0000 f AMICI.CAFE.COM J L DAVID W. GRIFFETH, U Attorney announces the relocation of his law office to Downtown in the Fred Building 220 College Ave. Ste. 612, Athens, Georgia (706) 353-1360 (former location 957 Baxter St) Admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court since 1976* ‘And lesser courts Specializing in Criminal: DUI, Drug Cases, Under-Age Possession and more. Civil: Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, Criminal Defense, Credit Card/Debt Relief and more. “1 www.DavidWGriffeth.com r JULY 20,2011-FLAGPOLE.COM 27
