Lincoln's last full-service station
to stop selling gas    

[NOV. 27, 2004]  The last full-service gas station in Lincoln is coming to an end no later than Dec. 4. "My kind of service is a dying breed," says Roger Bruns, aka Ozzy Bruns, 19-year owner and operator of the Bruns Service Center.

Roger Bruns has been in the gas station business since he was in the second grade. His family owned and operated the Standard Oil Station in Hartsburg, which has since been closed and the building removed. When he was just a young boy he would do odds and ends of jobs like sweeping the floors while listening to the town locals discuss their everyday issues.

"My best memories of that was listening to all of the World War I stories from the war veterans that would always gather at the station," Bruns said. "I learned more there than I ever did in history books. A lot of school politics and town politics were settled right there in that Hartsburg station."

Roger Bruns has run his service station much like his family did in Hartsburg, offering full-service pumps and a personal one-on-one relationship with the community.

Bruns remembers an incident from last summer when a woman from Chicago was passing through for some gas. "When she came into the store my wife's little dog jumped up onto the counter as if to greet her. The woman laughed and said, 'Well, you don't see that every day.' And she probably doesn't see something like that up in Chicago. Only in a small-town gas station would she see that. I remember laughing so hard I about fell over," Bruns said.

It's experiences like that day which have made Bruns proud of his service station.

Bruns appreciates all of the good and loyal customers that he has had over the years. And they appreciate him. He has already received several letters of appreciation and gifts from his customers, letting him know how much the full-service station will be missed.

When asked how he felt about the closing, Bruns said, "I will have more freedom, but I will really miss all of the contact with the people.

"It's disheartening," he said. "The government regulations and fees to operate a gas station get tougher and tougher every year. I just can't keep up."

Although the actual gas service part of the business will be completely shut down and all gas equipment removed, Bruns plans to continue working as an automotive technician in that building at 1510 Fifth St. He also will continue operating his storage business. Bruns was the first person to bring a storage business to Lincoln.

[Janell Woolard]