Meet the founders of General Equipment Rental: Grace and Bernie Conrad. 

Grace is a life-long native of Weaverville, the daughter of L. L. and Pearl Jones who were, among other things, the proprietors of the Stoney Knob Supermarket and the Stoney Knob Diner.

In 1963, when Bernie was a young man of 22, he and his father moved south from Union City, NJ, to Weaverville and built A-B Emblem, an embroidered patch factory. The chosen location was within a stone's throw of the Stoney Knob diner, where Grace was waitressing for the summer. She served him coffee each morning, and Bernie quickly became a regular. That was August, and, after a very brief courtship, the two were married in November. It has been nearly 60 years since then, and Grace is still pouring Bernie’s coffee. (They must have all been touched by luck, because the Stoney Knob Cafe and A-B Emblem are still going strong, too!)