Search Site   
Current News Stories
Solar eclipse, new moon coming April 8
Mystery illness affecting dairy cattle in Texas Panhandle
Teach others to live sustainably
Gun safety begins early
Hard-cooked eggs recipes great for Easter, anytime
Michigan carrot producers to vote on program continuation
Suggestions to celebrate 50th wedding anniversary
USDA finalizes new ‘Product of the USA’ labeling rule 
U.S. weather outlooks currently favoring early planting season
Weaver Popcorn Hybrids expanding and moving to new facility
Role of women in agriculture changing Hoosier dairy farmer says
   
News Articles
Search News  
   
At 96, Shirk’s founder still always trying to ‘do more’
 

By NANCY VORIS

GREENSBURG, Ind. — Charlie Shirk sits behind his desk in a corner office of Shirk’s International, his second home for more than 67 years. A glance out the window tells him all is well with his hometown and business.

He has slowed a bit, knowing that his five acres of inventory, service department and the day-to-day operation of the business is in the hands of trusted and loyal friends.

Shirk’s eyes still twinkle at age 96, his smile sweet and maybe a little mischievous as he remembers what brought him to this place. His father was a Greensburg farmer, but with two brothers and a sister, he thought he would do a little more.

During World War II he signed up for the military in Lafayette and avoided the draft, with his sights set on being a pilot. Only one thing stood in his way: He had to learn Morse Code.

“I couldn’t do it, so I was grounded from being a pilot,” Shirk remembered with a chuckle.

So he went to Hollywood, to mechanics school where they were building B38s. He was assigned to a B-17 crew stationed back across the country in Tennessee, where he had the roles of gunner and aerial engineer. But just when his sights were set on Europe, Berlin fell and the crew was grounded in Tennessee.

Always one for adventure, Shirk decided to hitchhike home to Greensburg for the weekend and on a Sunday, he caught the train in Osgood, connected in Louisville and made it back to base before roll call.

Shirk tried again to see some military action. He headed to Tampa and completed mechanic’s training on the B-29 bombers. “But the same day, they dropped the bomb on Japan, and I never made it overseas,” he said.

He collected his discharge papers in 1946 and returned home, renting farmland across from his dad and feeding cattle. He remembered driving a team of horses to pull a sled of corn into the barn right beside the Ford 8N tractor, and made the decision right there to sell the horses: Machinery was the future.

A few years later he became a silent partner with Glenn Weston in the Minneapolis-Moline farm machinery and DeLaval dairy equipment business in Greensburg. In 1951 they constructed the building that still stands.

“I remember selling our first self-propelled combine for $3,500,” he said.

Shirk bought out Weston 10 years later and named the business Shirk’s Tree City Supply after Greensburg’s famous courthouse tower tree. There was no International Harvester dealer around, so he contacted the company and was awarded the dealership, which became Shirk’s International, Inc. in 1962.

He said there were a few old tobacco barns on Broadway Street that were abandoned and as his inventory grew, he stored some machinery there. “But we had a strong wind and they blew down, and that was the end of that,” he laughed.

He felt IH was never the same after Case bought it out, and in 1987 he made the decision to exit the farm equipment business – plus, things had started to change on the agriculture scene.

“The same ground was being farmed, but by few farmers,” he said. Farmers who bought 3/4-ton trucks went to 2-ton and tandem trucks.

He doesn’t miss the farm equipment, though. “It’s too selective. If you let harvest season go past and still have equipment, you’re stuck.”

As new and used truck sales continued to expand, so did the service and parts departments. Shirk added on to the building three times and put another shift to the service department.

He kept an eye on the local scene, too. “Everywhere new buildings were popping up, and I tried to buy any property next to me. I rented across the road but it didn’t work, going back and forth when the phone rang.”

Employees expanded from his original four to a dozen. Most join the team for the long haul. Nyla Thompson started as a bookkeeper and was with him for 40 years before retiring. Clark Martin worked for a dealer in Batesville during high school, and joined Shirk just after graduation in 1988.

One of his best hires turned out to be his former son-in-law, Steve Freeman. Shirk approached Freeman when he was employed in banking. Freeman was hesitant to accept the offer; “Just give it a try,” Shirk urged.

Freeman joined the company in 1992 and never shifted into reverse. He is now president of Shirk’s International, leading it into the age of marketing on Facebook and Instagram.

The company and employees are active in local events and national shows. They recently sponsored the Tower Tree Truck Classic & Diesel Pick-ups at the Decatur County Fairgrounds and the Decatur County Family YMCA’s “Touch a Truck Day.” Martin keeps the business connected to its roots as president of Greensburg Power of the Past.

Shirk’s most fulfilling experiences with his business are when people from all over the country come in as repeat buyers.

“It’s common for someone to say, ‘My dad or granddad bought two tractors from you,’” he said. “When you treat them fair, they come back.”

 

 

9/19/2018