The Car Took a Plunge

You just never know what a new day will bring...

Saturday morning we were dispatched out to the West side of Rock Lake for a car that went into the ditch in the wee hours earlier that morning.
This was as close as the medium-duty truck could get to the shore of the Rock Lake.Dan and Joe used an ice auger to drill holes in the ice to create an anchor. This would allow the vehicle to be pulled straight back, rather than at a hard angle.

Joe Hendricks pulls cable out from the boom.
A canoe was used to get near the vehicle. A hole had to be punched in the window to put the strap through to support the 2001 Buick LeSabre. It was a task to get the strap to stay in place beneath the wheels as they had a tendency to float.
Large ice chunks would get wedged in between the ice and the chassis of the car, which made necessary the use of a chain saw and many attempts to reposition the chains for proper support.

Both driver and passenger made their way safely out of the vehicle. The tow operators used the ice as an anchor, as the tow truck could not go onto the ice and the vehicle was at a poor angle to remove it from the ice heave that formed.




The job took about a total of 3 hours from the time the operators arrived to the time the vehicle was towed back to the storage unit. Fortunately, not one person was harmed in this entire series of events.

Way back when...

1948...When it all began!

One of the many valuable things we can take with us is memories. Our founder and chief, Cliff Topel was just comparing the difficult economic times in the 1930's (what we refer to as The Great Depression) to what our country is experiencing currently.

He told us of the "Bums" that rode the trains and would stop off here in Lake Mills. There was a camp in the woods by the lake, just off of what is now the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Sometimes, they made their way out to the Topel's homestead (what is now St. Paul's Lutheran Church & School), looking for food. Cliff said that his mom, Mabel, would feed some of them. "Not all of them," he told us.

A true reflection of days gone by and how truly blessed we are for all of the difficult times that the Topel family endured. The photo above is merely a symbol of a ray of hope that we have to make the necessary adjustments to our daily living. Out of such despair, emerged a legacy of memories that began at 1110 South Main Street, right here in Lake Mills!

One from the past...going to the "grinder"!

The photo you see was taken from a Lake Mills Police squad! When cars come in that people no longer want, it is quite a task to dispose of them. It reminds me of the commerical on Charlie FM 105.1...
"The cops had my car towed last night because of emergency parking..."
"...that's okay, that car was a piece of junk anyways...they can just keep it!"

May be funny to some,and I understand the comedy, but here at Topel's, it means lots of paperwork and prep that goes into getting the cars ready.

Now that's what we call efficiency...or is it insanity?!?

Up and running...

Welcome to our first posting on our new blog site! Kudos to Jason Thoma and Shelli Roedl for putting their heads together and thinking ups such a great idea! We'll do our best to keep you posted on the latest and greatest happenings here at Topel's. As you know, our company is complied of two divisions: the Service Center (servicing your vehicle's mechanical repair and maintenance needs), and the Towing Service (we like to say that our tow trucks are for other people's customers, not ours!!)

This time of year, we are getting swamped with calls, from cars not starting to cars slidding into the ditches throughout the county and on I-94...makes for lots of activity in and around the shop. Most nights this time of year become ablur with calls from motorists and law enforcement agencies throughout the late night and early morning hours. We're not complaining, though. We always say we hope you don't need our services, but if you do...we're here for you!

It just so happens to be Christmas today. Merry Christmas! Irony would have it that I had to disptach Dan out tonight to help the kids I used to babysit for...now they babysit our children. An icy patch sent them into a snow bank...luckily he sent them on their way after airing up their tire!

Drive safe out there and as always...buckle up!