Affolder's to open for business Tuesday

Authored by Jim Langham on Dec 23, 2011

Affolder Services and Sales, Inc. will be open for business on Tuesday, according to owner Greg Milholland.
"Technically we're open now," said Milholland. "We would serve any customer that came to us. We would just like to get a few more things done before we officially open for business."
Milholland said on Thursday afternoon that damage estimates from Monday night's fire that destroyed the entire service garage is well over $ 1 million. In addition to the service area, Milholland said that there were six tractors and six Bobcats in the facility that were currently being worked on.
"That's the really sad part," said Milholland, "calling customers and telling them that their equipment was in the building when it burned."
According to the owner, the front service area, which was saved by a firewall, has electricity, phone service and heat. He noted that Internet service returned on Wednesday and that the mainframe computer was in the process of being restored on Thursday.
In addition, a fire restoration service was in the process of removing humidity from the office service area.
Milholland said that the exact cause of the fire might never be known, because of destruction. However, the fire inspector told the owner that he suspects that it was connected to the attic, possibly a combustion fire that started in the insulation.
"He said he couldn't say that beyond a reasonable doubt, though," continued Milholland.
"It's just overwhelming how many people have offered shops for us to work in until we can get rebuilt," said Milholland. "There are a few close by that we are going to use. We are going to be open for service on Dec. 27. I guess you might say that we're going to be full service with a limp."
It was in 1928 when Edwin Affolder, Sr., became the first dealer of Allis Chalmer equipment in the state of Indiana. At the time, Affolder was a local hay dealer and also sold workmen's compensation to businesses in the area.
"In his lifetime, Ed worked for A.J. Moser as a plumber, farmed 280 acres, and started custom thrashing," states the Adams County History Book of 1979. "He was one of the first to use gas instead of steam for this operation. Two brothers, Elmer and Tillman, with Ed, operated three sand pits at one time."
The history states that Affolder relocated his business four times before finally settling on the current location along U.S. 27 south.
An article in the June 8, 1949 Berne Witness notes that Affolder and a son, Dale, took possession on May 1 of that year of the former Augsburger Brothers building along "federal road 27, south of Berne."
"Mr. Affolder and son had bought the building some time ago from the local bank," states the article. "The building had been originally intended for a
slaughter house and meat packing plant but has never been occupied.
"The building is of cement block. The Affolders plan to move their implement and machinery store into this building as soon as possible. They intend to make several improvements and changes in and around the building, and plan to paint it. They will retain their present building a mile south and a short distance west of Berne as a store room," added the article.
The new location was intended to serve the Affolders as a better location than what their present building had. The site along the highway was thought be more visible and accessible.
The present owner, Greg Milholland, joined partial ownership with Harry Dubach in 1976. Over the years, Milholland has gradually purchased more shares of the business.
Don Voelke, in a Fort Wayne publication, recently reported that after Dubach graduated from high school in 1962, he began working at the Allis Chalmer dealership. Over the years, Dubach's role in the Affolder business grew until by the time he retired in 1999, he had part ownership of the company.
Dubach had told Voelke at the time that he had grown up around Allis Chalmers, and he had other family members that had been involved with Allis Chalmer equipment.
"It was just kind of a natural thing," Dubach had told Voelke. "It's a joy to work on these tractors."
Affolder was one of seven children who immigrated with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Affolder, from Switzerland in the mid-1880s. The family originally lived in a log cabin about three miles south of Berne.
On Monday night, the business took what Milholland referred to as a, "major inconvenience," but he noted that in the spirit of company fervor over the past 80 years, it would be up and running again soon.
"We're going to rebuild soon," said Milholland. "We're going to keep the tradition of this company going. Our customers are going to have service here as soon as we can get things back up."

share


You need to be logged in to post comments on this article.