"We want everyone to know how wonderful Bobby is to his employees," said a worker at Lee Hi Travel Plaza on Monday, October 2nd. "If you interview him, he'll tell you more about us than he will himself."
And that is just what happened when The Rockbridge Weekly went out to Lee Hi Travel Plaza on Monday to interview Berkstresser on the 25th anniversary of his ownership of Lee Hi.
Traveling past Lee Hi Travel Plaza on Rte. 11 north of Lexington, what you can see from the road is a busy, travel friendly gas station and restaurant. What you don't see are all the improvements and businesses that have grown from the 9 employee, restaurant, fuel stop and garage that Berkstresser acquired on Saturday, October 3rd, 1981 to become a well-known, highly respected business that has 115 employees and seven different divisions providing a wide range of services. Not only is it a Travel Plaza, it is the base for many types of services that take employees and equipment all up and down I-81 in the Shenandoah Valley and into Charlottesville and West Virginia along I-64.
Established in 1959, Lee Hi Travel Plaza is one of the oldest truck stops on the East Coast. Lee Hi was established as a Pure Oil Truck Stop in 1958 when it was built and operated by J. C. Heizer.
Lee Hi was established before the interstate when Rte. 11 was the main road in the area. "Lee Hi has been very lucky," said Berkstresser. "The interstate opened in 1967 and ended up being very close to our location so Lee Hi was able to survive unlike other stations located elsewhere on Rte. 11 that ended up closing."
In 1969, Leonard Pennington, who served as General Manager, purchased Lee Hi from Heizer and in October of 1981, Berkstresser took over as owner and he has been growing and expanding the business ever since.
A machinist and mechanic by trade, Berkstresser explained that he didn't know anything about the truck stop or restaurant business when he took over Lee Hi. "I had a garage and towing service at the time," he says. For the first 6 months the restaurant was leased out but then Berkstresser took it over. "I decided to offer a clean establishment with simple food and plenty of it," he remarked. "It was food a truck driver would eat at home and in the first month we grossed $9,000. We offered better quality hamburger, home made food and over the years we have had a great bunch of cooks. Each brought something new and we kept what worked best. This includes the bread that Mrs. Hines started making when she came and the beef tips another chef brought to the menu.
"About 12 or 13 years ago I decided to change the name of the restaurant to some simple and easy to remember," says Berkstresser. "My father's nick-name was Berky so that's what I called the restaurant. I also decided to not only cater to truck drivers but to make it a restaurant that local people would like to eat at as well. Berkstresser added a salad bar and 8 or 9 years ago the Friday night seafood buffet and then the Saturday night Prime Rib, breakfast bars after ballgames, and Sunday brunch. "We continue to make changes to satisfy our customers," he commented.
Employees with the restaurant that Berkstresser says have contributed to its success include prep cook Helen Young who has been there for over 20 years, Marty Clark a cook for 18 years and sisters Bonnie Reed and Nancy Hayslett and Hayslett's daughter Sonya Fitzgerald who have been there for 18 years. Reed began as a waitress and worked her way up to assistant manager and now manager.
The restaurant has been expanded several times and 6 years ago Berkstresser remodeled the dining rooms with old toys and named them the Tin Toy Cafe and the Pedal Car Diner.
The chronology of improvements to the business is impressive. In 1983 Berkstresser signed a contract with Petroleum Marketers, Inc. of Roanoke, a Shell fuel provider, which has been a great partnership, he says. In 1984 the first Service Shop was built. In 1986 he added a Parts Department and in 1990, Lee Hi Crane and Equipment Rental was created. That has now become Lee Hi Crane and Rigging. In 1991, Western Star Truck Sales began, a convenience store was built and new restrooms and shower facilities were added. In 1994 a Machine Shop was built and in 1995 a major renovation took place with the remodeling of the Fuel Island, a new 14 bay Service Shop, a new Parts Department, and new sales offices.
In 1996, Lee Hi Truck Stop was renamed Lee Hi Travel Plaza to better fit the services offered. A 4-bay Body Shop was added and areas were paved for additional truck parking. In 1997 a new office complex was built, more showers were added, a laundry facility, TV lounge, and chapel were added and 13 acres were purchased for Lee Hi Campground. In 1998, Lee Hi Excavating Service began. In 1999 the Convenience Store was remodeled and expanded and the campground opened. In 2002 more renovations were made to Berky's Restaurant and Western Star Trucking was sold to Virginia Truck Center. In 2004 a 16,000 sq. ft. maintenance facility that houses all cranes and towing equipment was built.
"Today we have services for truckers and all walks of life," says Berkstresser.
"There have been good times and tough times," says Berkstresser, "but no matter what, each year we get better - employees get better trained, we get better equipment, and the challenges keep you working hard and growing. You can't do everything yourself and if an employee is better than you and can give you new opportunities and challenges, you get better and you grow. If you surround yourself with people with good ideas, problems get solved and you build a good reputation."
Berkstresser likes to work hard and is a good role model for his employees. Looking at the roster of employees you will see people that started out doing part time work on weekend and in the summer while they were in high school that have worked themselves up into top positions at Lee Hi. Turnover is low and many employees have been there for 8, 10, 15, or over 20 years.
"Employees stay or move on," said Berkstresser. "However, they all contribute to what Lee Hi is. If they bring something good with them, we will keep it in the mix."
Berkstresser wanted to especially mention those employees that have been with him a long time and said he apologizes if he has left someone out. Wilbur Johnson recently came on board as foreman of the Excavating Service with over 20 years of experience. Key employees include Dreama Wallace (14 years) who schedules, prices jobs, hires, and dispatches excavating, towing, and rental equipment services including cranes. Darrell Burke, (13 years), is the General Manager for the Construction Division. Tony Dixon, (9 years) is foreman of the Crane and Equipment division. The Lee Hi Crane and Rigging Division was featured in the J. W. Burress magazine in June. Oak Smith (over 10 years) and Manuel Dafonseca (over 20 years) do all the mechanical work on the equipment and also fabricate parts. Josh Haul, who began part-time in high school has become an expert excavator and Jonathan Griffin who also began while in high school is now an expert crane operator.
In the office end of things, Herb Slaydon is the Chief Financial Officer and General Manager. Teresa Cummings (22 years) is the Business Manager and Darlene Henley (10 years) is responsible for the fuel desk and oversees employee policy. Teresa McCoy (8 years) is in receivables, Cathy Snyder (Leonard Pennington's daughter) does payables, bookkeeping and payroll and Marty Sensabaugh (10 years) is Office Manager.
Also not to be forgotten are Luther Saunders (age 70) who helps out in many ways, drivers Ashby Horne (15 years) and Bobby Simons (over 10 years). Bobby credits his son Kevin and wife Sue with their hard work and energy for his success.
"I never expected it to become what it has when I first bought the business," says Berkstresser. Through hard work and first rate employees, Lee Hi now consists of Lee Hi Travel Store; Berky's Restaurant; Lee Hi Campground; Lee Hi Trucking; Lee Hi Towing & Recovery; Lee Hi Crane & Rigging, Equipment Rental, and Excavating; and the Lee Hi Travel Plaza which includes Cedar Hill Christian Chapel, Tangles Hair Express, a laundry facility, shower facility, game room, TV lounge and Interstate Scales. |  | Lee Hi - how it looked when Berkstresser purchased the business in 1958
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