Miss Goodwrench

Here’s a rarity: a full-service gas station. This one, Groneman’s Service Center, is on Route 66 in Vega, Texas.

Here’s a bigger rarity: a girl who works at a full-service station. Heather Newton, 16, a soon-to-be junior at the local high school, is employed at Groneman’s.

Here’s an excerpt from a story by the Amarillo Globe-News (free registration may be required):

The station still pumps the gas, cleans windows and checks tires and oil levels. Newton said she gets a kick out of some people’s reactions when they see a girl moving around their car.

“We get a lot of people from out of town who say they’ve only seen a full-service station in the movies. I hear a lot of jokes about me being a girl, too,” she said.

Newton lets the jokes ride right off her back as she becomes more and more familiar with the station.

“My brother use to work at the station, and when he left they needed someone who could work on their new computer,” she said. “The Gronemans knew that I was good with computers, so they hired me for the job. Once I got here and put all the inventory in, I started helping on the drive.”

Newton started out pumping gas, checking the air in tires and cleaning windshields, but she was soon asked to help in the shop by the owners of the station.

“If Heather puts her mind to it, she can do just about anything,” owner Larry Groneman said. “She started out by taking a valve stem out of a wheel to fix the tire, and then eventually she was breaking down the tire to put the new tire on. Now, she can change the oil with the best of them.”

Newton also is a runner on her school’s track and cross-country teams. And in one big sign that she’s in a small town, she’s a member of the Future Farmers of America.