The Monday After: Meet Herkie, the lawn-mowing goat

Gary Brown
·4 min read
Herkie, the lawn-mowing goat that once lived and toiled at a SOHIO service station owned by Joe Helaney, was "employed" to eat the weeds in a rocky area surrounding the Stark County business late in the 1960s. But, every now and then, he was allowed into the station to engage in some inside work.
Herkie, the lawn-mowing goat that once lived and toiled at a SOHIO service station owned by Joe Helaney, was "employed" to eat the weeds in a rocky area surrounding the Stark County business late in the 1960s. But, every now and then, he was allowed into the station to engage in some inside work.

Herkie was a lawn mower late in the 1960s.

That wasn't because he was powered by a Herkimer motor manufactured by Herkimer Tool & Model Works of Herkimer, New York, although "Herkimer" seems a logical extension of his name. And, he wasn't propelled by an engine made by Hercules Motors Corporation of Canton, despite the fact "Herkie" actually was short for Hercules, the creature's "given" name.

Herkie – a "reliable old lawn mower," as an article termed him in 1969 – instead was fueled by grass and weeds, the growth of which surrounded him on the 75-foot by 125-foot lot on which he was tethered behind a service station at Fulton Drive NW at Whipple Avenue.

You see, Herkie was a goat.

"He's a good, steady worker, alright," J.J. "Joe" Helaney, who owned the SOHIO franchise at which Herkie labored, told The Canton Repository for the article written by Jack Leggett and published on Aug. 24, 1969. "A lot was rough graded, and rough is the right word for it. A lot of rocks were left. We just couldn't use a mower so I joked I'd get me a goat.

"Then I looked at the rocks again and it didn't seem such a silly idea."

Preserver of memories

Helaney, long since having sold the station and retired from another vehicle repair and maintenance business, recently recalled the fond memory.

"I had the SOHIO location on Whipple and Fulton for about eight years, up until the middle of 1970 when I then located across the street from where Belden Village Mall would open in October of that year," he said. "The area that Herkie maintained was at the rear and surrounding the station's property. There was no need to have that area leveled in any respect so there were boulders, rocks and such and weeds would have their way."

Helaney had a reputation for running a tight ship. His station was known for being the cleanest in his district, and he made a habit out of annually winning the "Sparkle for Spring" award SOHIO handed out.

"Keeping the surrounding area as clean as possible was part of my drive to bring on Herkie, who would take care of an area that was impossible for me to maintain," Helaney recalled. "I had the area fenced in with a little shelter in the back and straw to keep him comfortable."

The service station became Herkie's home, a place where he spent his time "nibbling away daintily and maybe having more fun than if he'd stayed on a farm," the 1969 article presumed.

"It's a pretty soft touch, really."

Became an institution

Herkie had a lot of friends during his time at the station.

"Neighborhood kids – humans, that is – drop in often to pet him and feed him vegetable tops and other choice items," said the article.

Mothers would bring their children to see Herkie, remembered Helaney. A diet of treats for the goat was determined by trial and error, he said.

"They knew what Herkie would go wild for, and that was any type of fruit."

The feeding by fans of Herkie became so continual, in fact, that it caused a problem, the Repository article noted.

"What with those sandwich remnants and apple cores from the station attendants and the oat ration Mr. Helaney provides, there's so much good free lunch coming Herkie's way he sometimes hasn't proper the appetite for his weed work. He's the company lawn mower, remember."

Indeed, Leggett observed, all Herkie lacked for was a companion – a nanny goat.

Helaney remembered that a female goat did eventually inhabit the rocky terrain of his station. Alas, Herkie by that time was gone.

"I knew I couldn’t keep him through the winter, so I put out the word to my customers, looking for someone to adopt him," recalled Helaney. "Manuel Martinez, who lived close by and was one of the owners of Bakers Café, brought one of his customers in and Herkie had his new residence."

The story doesn't end with the departure of Herkie, however.

"The next year I brought in another goat by the name of Gertrude."

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On Twitter: @gbrownREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: The Monday After: Herkie, the lawn-mowing goat, was popular draw at Stark gas stations