On June 3rd, 2023, Springwater Wayland EMS unveiled the first historical marker in the Village
of Wayland at the old Bennett Brother’s dealership. Members of the Bennett family were in
attendance and speakers included Susan Walker, President of SWEMS, Fred Grambs, Chief,
Mike Palmesano, representing Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes, John Paul Holubek,
representing the Wayland American Legion, and both Jim Bennett and Guy Bennett Jr.
The marker commemorates the 102 year old building, the military service of Guy Sr and the fact
that the Bennett Buick dealership remained in the family continuously operating for 97 years.
The speakers highlighted the community service of both Guy Sr and Homer Bennett and Jim
Bennett did the honors of unveiling the marker.
Jim Bennett also brought down 3 beautiful cars that represent the 3 generations of their family who ran the business, a 1930 Buick Model 44, a 1965 Buick Riviera, and a 1987 Buick GNx.
After the unveiling, everybody was invited inside to see the display of historical pictures in the old showroom and for some light food and a piece of cake. Guy Bennett Jr was invited to sit in the rocking chair donated by the Amish Workshop in Springwater that commemorates the long semi-retirement tradition started by Guy Sr and followed by Guy Jr of sitting in the rocking chair and greeting customers.
SWEMS will maintain the look of the old showroom while using it for meetings and training events. One wall has historical pictures of the Bennett building and dealership and another wall reveals the history of EMS services in Wayland starting with the funeral homes, then the Fire Department and now SWEMS. In the old work area that is nearing completion of renovations, many items were displayed with details about how they were funded through support received from grants and donations.
SWEMS will maintain the look of the old showroom while using it for meetings and training
events. One wall has historical pictures of the Bennett building and dealership and another wall
reveals the history of EMS services in Wayland starting with the funeral homes, then the Fire
Department and now SWEMS. In the old work area that is nearing completion of renovations,
many items were displayed with details about how they were funded through support received
from grants and donations.
The historical marker was paid for by the William G Pomeroy Foundation after Fred collected
several primary sources of data that Guy Jr provided. The foundation requires primary sources
in order to provide grants. For this application, the primary sources included pictures of the
original construction process, receipts of some of the materials, the original 1922 Buick
dealership agreement, and a press release from the Veterans Administration that described Guy
Sr’s World War I service and receipt of the French Legion of Honor Award in 1999. The
application was submitted on March 26, 2022 and after verifying some information and going
through the ordering process, the marker was received on September 22nd. The organization
decided to wait until June when the weather would be more likely to be good for an outdoor
event. With a summer EMT class being hosted in the showroom starting June 10th, SWEMS
had a narrow window to install the marker.
