by Kate Shunney
Skeeter’s Towing & Auto Body has closed after 25 years in business, but a new garage owner will keep the doors open to customers in the Berkeley Springs area.
Minnicks Towing & Recovery purchased the Skeeter’s garage property and opened for business at their new Morgan County location on Tuesday, October 21.
photo by Kate Shunney
Minnicks currently has locations in Winchester and in Kearneysville, specializing in towing of small, medium and heavy vehicles, diesel truck repair and equipment hauling.
Owner Danny Huffman said he decided to expand to Berkeley Springs after being called in for a complicated heavy truck accident. The county government asked Minnicks to join the tow truck rotation for heavy truck accidents.
“So now we’re up here,” said Huffman. “We’re all about public service and helping people.”
Minnicks started in business in 2006 in Sterling, Va. and then expanded to their current locations.
Huffman himself started working for a towing business at the age of 16, then became a manager of a vehicle repossession business, then started his own business at the age of 25.
Now, his son Bryan runs their Kearneysville location and his daughter Brittney dispatches for the towing company. Minnicks has over 50 employees and 74 pieces of equipment. They have special Hazmat certifications and rotators for large truck incidents.
The Berkeley Springs location will offer full towing capability, light, medium and heavy-duty truck repair and diesel services, plus West Virginia state inspection services.
The shop will be open daily and service can be scheduled by calling 304-258-9006.
25 years in business
Skeeter and Lorraine Canoles are excited that Huffman’s desire to expand into the Eastern Panhandle has brought Minnicks to Berkeley Springs.
Lorraine had seen they wanted to add a panhandle location and reached out. The purchase of Skeeter’s followed a few months later.
She and Skeeter had already decided to retire and were scaling back work when the opportunity came.
Skeeter’s opened in 1999 as an auto body shop in what is now Clark’s warehouse, across U.S. 522 from Berkeley Springs High School. After expanding into towing in 2010, they moved the business to the Valley Road location in 2012 and renovated the garage complex. Skeeter’s added a heavy wrecker to their equipment and took on increasing work as a tow company while also offering vehicle maintenance and auto body work.
Canoles had started working as a mechanic at the age of 18 at Warm Springs Garage, employed by owner Bucky Miller. He worked for Warm Springs Garage from 1985 to 1999, when he went out on his own. In 2012, Canoles returned to the old Warm Springs Garage as its new owner.
photo by Amanda Miller
Both he and Lorraine will miss seeing longtime customers and local folks at the garage.
“You meet a lot of great people in business,” she said. They are looking forward to pursuing their own interests and spending more time with family, including their three grandchildren.
It’s taking some time for them to get used to not getting tow calls at all hours of the day and night.
“I couldn’t tell you the last time we spent the whole day at home on Thanksgiving,” Lorraine Canoles said.
The Canoles’ are looking forward to continuing their community involvement with schools and volunteer groups, plus adding some travel and time with friends in retirement.
