Aaron Lavigne is the owner of Aaron’s Automotive on Dumaresq Street. The shop has been open since 2017, and it’s been quite the journey for Aaron to get to where he is now.

Aaron is originally from South Bathurst, but like many before him, he needed a taste of the world outside of Bathurst. So, after graduating high school, he moved to Ontario, where he lived for 16 years.

“I kicked around in those days,” says Aaron. “There was so much work, and I always seemed to want to do more.”

Aaron worked odd jobs and eventually signed himself up for a welding course in Mississauga. He got a job at Clarkson Radiator, where he fixed radiators and heater cores. From there, he moved to a bigger company where he could finally get into the apprenticeship program.

Aaron decided to return home in 1999, but that didn’t last long. Work was hard to find, and he ended up working in Cap-Pelé for a couple of years, returning home, and then moving to Fredericton for seven years, where he met his wife and worked as the lead hand at Canadian Tire.

After his father passed away, he returned home for good in 2011, after securing a job with Coast Tire. Aaron continued to work in the area but eventually realized that he wanted to work for himself. The building on Dumaresq had been vacant for 15 years at that point, and knowing the original owners, Aaron was able to buy the place and open up his shop in 2017, where he can do pretty much anything you need.

“Everything from A to Z, I’ve been able to do—right down to bodywork and frame repairs, you name it,” says Aaron. “The more you learn, the more versatile you become—not just in what you do, but in life.”

Aaron and his father always knew he was destined for something mechanical. Ever since he was a young boy, he loved taking stuff apart and fixing it. It started with bicycles, then a moped, and even radios. If there was something to take apart and put back together, Aaron was going to do it.

“In my teenage years, my dad bought me my first motorized moped. It was a 32cc engine mounted on the front tire. It was like a little chainsaw. That’s how it all started for me—I loved to take stuff apart as a kid.”

He’s happy with his shop because of the great location and the size. As he mentions, in small towns, you don’t need to be too far off the beaten path to be forgotten.

He’d like one more apprentice that he could show the ropes to, and possibly take over the shop. He knows he’ll never stop completely, but having a young person transition the place into their own would be the ideal goal.

We want to thank Aaron Lavigne for being this week’s guest on The Northern Heat Report—the place you come to listen to the stories that have not yet been discovered.