By JEREMIAH LANGE

Contributing writer

A couple weeks ago the cable on the north side of our garage door snapped after my dad and I had left the house. Dani heard a loud bang come from the garage as the spring had been extended when the cable snapped. Fortunately, the cable snapping was the only damage that done.

I grew up in a house where, for the most part, if something was broken or needed maintained we called a professional to come and fix it or took it to a professional to maintain it. So growing up I didn’t learn how to change the oil on my truck, I learned how to drive it to Fletcher’s Auto Repair and then pick it up later in the day.

With that said, becoming a homeowner I have learned how to do some repairs myself. Not really knowing exactly what had happened to the cable, I contacted Gerald Wiens to come repair it.

He had some spare garage cables and was able to repair the side that broke. We got to looking at the south side and found a bracket that needed replaced and the cable was a hair from snapping.

Fortunately, he had a spare bracket. Unfortunately, he didn’t have another cable that would fit. Thank goodness for another friend, Luke King, who had a cable that was a perfect match. Eventually we got the door up and running again.

If Gerald hadn’t had the bracket or Luke hadn’t had the cable, it would have meant me driving to Hillsboro or further to track down some cable and brackets for a garage door since we lack a hardware store and lumberyard in Marion.

This past weekend I was in on a conversation with a repair professional and a homeowner who both said they are keeping certain things stocked at their house so they don’t have to drive 20 miles round trip or more to get a piece of material. The repair professional said his company isn’t even throwing out small pieces of 2x4.

Now I am the first to believe that the things in this paper need to not just look at the negative things in our community. And I know that those coming into this town as professionals look at this paper as a guide for what to expect here in Marion.

However, we can’t ignore the fact that we need a dedicated hardware store in this town. Those who make a living doing service calls or home repairs or even the weekend DIYers should not have to drive 20 miles round trip in order to finish a project that they start. It should be as simple as running to a store on Main Street that is ready to meet our project needs.

If we as a community can’t find a hardware store to operate here, we will need to get used to delays in deliveries arriving from other nearby companies or paying more for the time and fuel it takes for people to drive to get the supplies.

I’m not a business person, but I know we have business people in this town. Let’s come up with a plan to get a hardware store up and running in 2013.