When I was a kid, about 8 or 9, while on the way walking to school, I'd pass by a McCulloch chainsaw shop, that also worked on motorcycles. They had a large outdoor storage area fenced off where they kept a lot of the stuff that didn't need to be kept out of the weather.
In the back of that fenced off area, they had a pile of chainsaws. Mostly yellow ones, but with some red ones mixed in (Homelite). I could walk up to the fence and touch some of the saws in that pile. For whatever reason, I was fascinated by them.
Anyways, I kind of became a pest and started hanging around that shop. They put up with me well, as long as my parents were okay with me being there. They gave me small odd jobs to do and paid me for it. After a few weeks, I asked about the pile of saws in the back and if I could go rummage thru them? They asked me why I wanted to do that? I said that I would like to pick one out and get it running.
I was given the okay, and one of the techs and I went out and began looking thru it. I ended up picking out a tiny little Mac that had seen better days. I spent the next day or two cleaning it all up so that it was presentable. After about four or five weeks and with a lot of help, I rebuilt that saw and got it running.
I didn't take it home with me, so I left it at the shop. Several months later, come to find out, the shop sold it, not knowing that it was mine, and wasn't for sale. Man, I was heart-broken for a few weeks. They made it up to me by giving me some money and telling me to go pick out another saw to rebuild.
For about 2-3 yrs., I was pretty much a regular fixture around that shop when I could be. I rebuilt about 7 or 8 saws with the tech's help and sold them all. My family then moved out of state. Whenever we returned to visit family and friends, I'd stop by the shop and say hello. I always got a nice welcome.
I have a ton of good memories from all that. I wouldn't trade them for anything.
