Someone once said that “History is important because WE ARE the past: we are the sum of all the events--good, bad, and indifferent--that have happened to us. This sum product guides our actions in the present.”

This week we have spent more time than usual looking back at the history of West Park. 

Last Sunday, the family of Cornie Peters held a 70^th Birthday and Retirement party for Cornie. As part of their preparations for the event, Cornie’s daughter Lorraine Heinrichs spent time searching for pictures of his early days at West Park … and in the process came across a bunch of other pictures as well.

We would like to share a few of those pictures, along with some of West Park’s history, with you in the coming days. 

Dave Beckert built our original building (pictured above) in 1963. He purchased the GM franchise from the Kroeker family and decided to house it in a new building. We were also a Texaco dealer in those days. 

In addition to being a Texaco dealer, we also sold Dominion Royal tires in the early days. We still sell tires – Michelin, Goodyear, Uniroyal, Bridgestone and a bunch of others – but the Dominion Royal brand has faded from the scene. We hope someone kept these signs. Not only are they an important part of our dealerships history – but they would be worth a lot of money today.  

Harry Bueckert and Dave Beckert pictured in front of the new building around 1963. Harry was a salesperson for Beckert Motors at that time and also played for the Altona Maroons.

Beckert Motors stocked an impressive line-up of Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick products. We were a 5 line dealer in those days – also selling GMC medium duty trucks.