"My God, you get your ass out of bed and you go to work"
Local mechanic Terry “Tooter” Shipley, 66, stands next to a painting gifted to him by artist and chiropractor Dr. John Erskines in his downtown service center in Bowling Green, Ky. on April, 15, 2024.
Terry “Tooter” Shipley recalls his father waking him with this familiar phrase when he first began working at Shipley’s full-service gas station at 11 years old. James “Jimmy” Shipley, Tooter’s dad, opened the shop in 1954 and operated it all the way up until his passing in 2001. Since then, Tooter has lived by those words, managing the shop 6 days a week at 66 years old. Shipley’s gas station has become a staple of downtown Bowling Green and serves as the last full-service gas station in the region. The station has served not just as a place of work but also as a place to call home.
Mechanic Terry “Tooter” Shipley sets a car jack on a section of frame before servicing customer and longtime friend Barry Crutcher’s 1966 Ford Falcon.
Tooter keeps a collection of 50-year-old highway maps featuring an image of his late father James Shipley who opened Shipley’s full-service gas station that Tooter now operates in downtown Bowling Green, Ky
Tooter repairs a leaking tire on his friend Barry Crutcher’s 1966 Ford Falcon nicknamed “Wilma Jean” at his downtown service center in Bowling Green, Ky.