The Stuart community gathered Wednesday to celebrate the one year anniversary of an expanded Atlantic-based business.

Richter & Son Towing, Inc. hosted a ribbon cutting with the Stuart Chamber of Commerce and a complimentary lunch with the Adair County Beef Producers as they marked one year of business at their location at 3270 White Pole Road and 15 years in Atlantic. Owned by Gary and Sally Richter, the business began when Gary’s son Gregory was working for another towing company. When Gary held a prior job, his son would call him on the weekends asking if he’d like to help with wrecks. Gary says it’s funny how his business came to be, “We were actually going to buy a bar and run a bar and Sally went to bed and I was sitting at the table pushing numbers around on a piece of paper and by morning the bar idea was out and we were going to buy the wreckers and go into business as towing and body shop. The body shop never did take off but the towing and recovery we went full bore on it.”

Gary says they opened the Stuart location after local emergency responders expressed a service need for the area. Gary, Sally, and their children Gregory and Jessica all work for Richter & Son, and Gary adds that the rest of his employees are treated like family as well. The company operates 24/7 and also provides hazmat remediation.