PATTEN, Maine — When Benjamin Guptill’s family first arrived in Maine in 1866, they came as farmers under the Homestead Act, raising cows and selling beef and dairy products throughout several generations.
“I moved off the farm, and dad sold the cows, and I went up to Bridgewater and was a potato farmer,” recalled Guptill, who also met his wife, Liz, during this time period. “We worked for Reed & Reed one summer putting up wind towers. Then we just worked odd jobs on and off after that.”
Now, Guptill is transferring much of the knowledge associated with modern-day farming, such as repair of agricultural equipment and repair into a new line of work in opening CVF Services in Patten, located along Happy Corner Road.
Operating as a licensed state inspection station, the service saves local residents of Patten from having to travel to Millinocket or Houlton in order to have their vehicles examined for a state inspection sticker.
Having studied welding, Guptill also provides welding services, and his farm experience enables him to perform repair on agricultural machinery. He also welds together images of nature scenes, which decorate the garage of his business.
Due to that convenience, and perhaps because of the COVID-19 pandemic making people less likely to travel, Guptill says his service has been busy since last summer.
“I don’t know if that will happen again in another year, if it will be the same scenario,” he said. “But I’m sure they’ll all need something again.”
Guptill also receives help at the shop from his wife Liz and his father, Rob Guptill, who continues to work on the farm and raise beef cows. Rob said it was his son’s experiences growing up on the farm that enabled him to have the skillset he needs to run his business.
“He tells people he learned [the skills] from me,” Rob Guptill said.
Benjamin Guptill agrees. Asked what skills from farming have transferred into running CVF Services, he replied, “every bit of it.”
