It's a familiar sign and a familiar place. Harold Crook's Garage, on Gansett Avenue ~ just where it has always been. Just where Harold Crook set up shop many decades ago. Just where Jim Clarke assumed ownership of it, 26 years ago.

Harold Crook's Garage is a place whose values hearken back to the days when you knew and trusted your car mechanic like you knew the milkman, and the barber on the corner. It is a business reminiscent of the days when no one talked about "customer service" or "money back guarantees" - those things were just implied by one's reputation, and by one's word. Harold Crook's Garage is one of those places that has kept up with the advancements in automobile technology, without losing the traditional and oft-forgotten values of caring for your customers like they were family, because that is the way it has always been done. It is one of those places you just don't find around much anymore.

Back in the early 1920's, Harold Crook opened a small garage on Gansett Avenue. Over time, the business grew and his son Harold Crook, Jr. took over the reins. Eventually, the garage was passed on to the able hands of Jim Clarke - an avid mechanic and a natural at his craft. Clarke had joined the Crook "family" 38 years ago where he learned from the best. When he took over the business, he preserved its trusted values of uncompromised workmanship, dependability and affordability and the garage's customers followed.

Today, while Jim's wife Jeanette keeps the "engine" of the business running, Clarke and his talented technician Glen Jenison are busy repairing just about any car - domestic or foreign - with just about any problem. Clarke is a master at identifying and resolving all those "head scratcher" issues that leave car owners stumped. Whether it is time spent under the hood or behind a computer scanner diagnosing the source of an airbag, ABS or engine light, Clarke and Jenison work tirelessly until the problem is found and fixed. Some of the services this team provides are:

• Maintenance & Tune-ups

• Transmission & Engine

• Alignments

• Heating & A/C

• Brake Service

• Emissions Repair

• Electrical Repairs

• Computer Diagnostics

• State Inspections & Emissions testing

Customers of Harold Crook's Garage know that Clarke will go above and beyond for them. It isn't unusual to find Jim transporting his customers back and forth from the garage. Clarke might call it an informal "road test", but his customers call it unbeatable service and true caring. Just the way it's always been.

Harold Crook's Garage is located on 10 Gansett Avenue in Cranston. They can be reached at (401) 942-6070. Visit their website at www.haroldcrooksgarage.com.