Take a look at the latest edition of the Victory Voice!
MARCH 2021
As a Working Mom, Victory Auto Changed My Life
Over 17 years ago, as a busy mom, I used to cut coupons and get my oil changed at whichever place had the lowest price. I thought, if they wanted to throw in a car check-up for free, why not? I didn’t really know a lot about cars or the shady practices some repair shops engage in. One day, an oil technician at a random shop told me that I needed a serious repair. He said it would cost over $800. That put me in some distress. It was a lot of money for me, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I definitely couldn’t afford it right away. The funny thing is that I’d known Jeff Matt for years by then because we went to church together. One day, I ran into him, and I’m not sure how the topic came up, but Jeff found out about my car situation. “Bring it into the shop,” he urged me. “We’ll look at it.” So I did, and I’ll never forget that day. It didn’t feel like any other time I’d gone into an auto repair shop before. The staff’s genuine kindness blew me away. I was amazed by their authenticity, warmth, and ability to explain my car to me without being condescending or patronizing. After they looked it over, the technicians told me that there was nothing wrong with my car. Only one bolt needed to be tightened, and they weren’t even going to charge me for it (compared to $800 at the other place!) That floored me. Victory saved me hundreds of dollars, without asking me to spend a dime. Suddenly, I didn’t want anyone else to look at my car. I realized that clipping coupons couldn’t save me money if people were dishonest about my car repairs and those repairs cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Not only did I perceive auto repair shops differently, but I experienced it differently. By going to the same place, meeting the same people, and interacting with the same company, I realized that my technicians began to know my car better than anyone else, and their recommendations extended the longevity of my car.
Whether the repairs were big or small, Victory always helped me budget while prioritizing my safety. If I couldn’t afford the full repair, I knew the manager would be happy to help me understand my best options for a safe, partial repair. That put my worried heart at rest many times — and I know parents can relate when I say peace of mind is an extremely valuable thing. A year or two after I became a customer, I spoke to Jeff again. He told me, “I know you Stephanie. You like deals, and you’re a great example of the customers we’re looking for. How do we reach out to more women like you?” I’ve never been asked that question by a business owner before. Again, I was totally amazed. One of the things I told Jeff was, “It’d be so cool if the website, stores, and social media all looked the same.” Each location used to look a little bit different from the next, and I thought that a little visual consistency would spread the message about Victory’s consistent excellence. Man, did Jeff deliver. Today, every aspect of Victory looks just as consistent, sharp, and professional as the quality of their service. Plenty of experts would agree! For example, they won statewide and nationwide Better Business Bureau awards and became “Ask Patty” Certified to show their dedication to honesty and integrity, regardless of a customer’s gender. Jeff doesn’t rest on accolades, though. He is always looking to do things in better ways. Every year, location managers & leaders at Victory, spend intensive time with leading shop owners from all around the US to learn how to create a great working atmosphere, run a top notch business, and provide exceptional experiences for customers like us!
Victory has become my home away from home. Thanks for reading, everyone. It was such a thrill to share with you.
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Corn Dogs and Basketball AN AMERICAN TRADITION
A Smooth Drive to Arizona in an Old Van Greg’s Victory Story
It’s no coincidence that National Corn Dog Day is March 20 — the third Saturday of the month. This day is traditionally the first Saturday of March Madness,
When Victory Auto opened the Ham Lake store, it was only a mile away from Greg Pajak’s family home. That was incredibly convenient because they’d been taking their cars to Victory Auto since our very first shops opened. When it comes to auto repair, Greg never walks blind into an auto shop. “We always try to seek out someone, like a neighbor,” he told us. When Greg and his family moved to Minnesota in 1995, it just so happened that the Pajak family kids were attending a school in Blaine, alongside the Matt family kids! Jeff Matt became acquainted with Greg and told him he was opening an auto shop — Victory’s first store. “Getting to know Jeff’s character, [you realize] he’s very thorough with your vehicle,” Greg recalls. “We knew we could trust him from the get-go.” Jeff never recommended any work that didn’t have to be done right away, unless it was a safety issue. Victory offers Greg and his family peace of mind — the Pajaks love road-tripping. Because our stores are NAPA (National Automotive Parts Association) partnered, they can get their parts replaced for free at any NAPA-partnered shop. And as Greg’s children grew old enough to drive, they eventually began to drive their own cars to out-of-state colleges. If something went wrong, their kids could take their vehicle into any NAPA shop in their area. Victory “feels like family,” Greg says. When Greg wanted to drive his 2002 van to Arizona, it already had 200,000 miles on it. His kids worried that it wouldn’t make it. Greg took it into Victory to make sure, and the technicians assured him it was safe. Sure enough, the van drove without any problems! That impressed technicians in Arizona most of all. When Greg took the van into a shop in Arizona, just to double-check it before driving home, the technicians said Greg’s car had the cleanest fluids they’d ever seen. It became clear that getting his recommended services performed at Victory prolonged the life of his car.
otherwise known as the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship. But wait. What do corn dogs and a basketball tournament have to do with one another?
Turns out, National Corn Dog Day has everything to do with March Madness. The “holiday” began in March 1992 when two Corvallis, Oregon, high school students needed a snack while watching a basketball game. They got some corn dogs and called it good. But somehow, this simple snack and sport pairing turned into something huge. In fact, eating corn dogs while watching March Madness caught on like wildfire — and the teens didn’t even have Instagram to promote it! Though it’s not clear how, it spread across Oregon and eventually the rest of the country. It’s likely that people just heard about it from friends and family and thought it was a great idea. The corn dog, like basketball, is an American creation. In the 1920s, the creators toyed around with the idea of fried foods on a stick. They battered and fried everything from cheese to bananas, but it was the battered sausages that really stood out, and the corn dog was born. By the 1940s, the convenient creation had popped up at state fairs and drive-in restaurants all over the country. In 2012, in honor of the original Corn Dog Day, the then-governor of Oregon issued an official proclamation naming March 17 National Corn Dog Day in the state. Several companies jumped on the bandwagon as well, including Foster Farms (a maker of frozen corn dogs, among many other meat products) and the Pabst Brewing Company. While it’s not an “official” national day recognized by the U.S. Congress, it’s celebrated with thousands of events every March. And it’s grown beyond its U.S. roots. An article printed in The Oregonian in 2009 revealed that National Corn Dog Day parties have been celebrated on nearly every continent — including Antarctica!
Greg is glad to have discovered us and that our expanding locations make it easy to refer us to his friends and family. Thank you so much for sharing your kind words with us, Greg. You and your family’s support mean the world to us. See you again soon!
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Field trips are always an exciting time for kids. It changes a monotonous school day into a learning adventure. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has put field trips on hold for the time being. Luckily, there are ways kids can still enjoy field trips from the safety of their homes through virtual field trips! Check out some great virtual field trips below. FIELD TRIP DAY, RIGHT FROM THE LIVING ROOM 4 VIRTUAL ADVENTURES TO TAKE WITH YOUR KIDS
Visit the National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art provides 10 digital educational resources for children and adults to explore. These resources include video tours, educational PDFs, and even a few lessons and activities. Children can become engrossed in art, expand their knowledge of the arts, and practice some creativity of their own. Find out more and get exploring at NGA.gov.
in an easy‑to‑follow tour that is perfect for kids and adults alike. Find these tours at their website at BrightFarms.com or Vimeo.com. See Buckingham Palace In this virtual tour, your kids can explore Buckingham Palace’s throne room, grand staircase, and white drawing room. Each room has a 360-degree view to look around each room, and, by clicking on the information icons, you can learn about certain aspects of each room. This is a wonderful chance to bring your kids into a completely different world right from your living room by heading to Royal.UK/virtual- tours-buckingham-palace.
Fly to Mars and the Moon By heading to AccessMars.WithGoogle. com, you and your kids can embark on an exploration of Mars with narrator Katie Stack Morgan, a NASA planetary geologist on the Mars Science Laboratory mission, and the rover Curiosity. Morgan takes viewers through certain points of Curiosity’s adventures on the real surface of Mars. NASA also has a virtual tour of the moon’s surface at Moon.NASA.gov, providing viewers with information gathered since 2009.
Learn about farming with BrightFarms
BrightFarms’ virtual tours let viewers explore indoor farming, specifically how leafy greens are grown, harvested, packaged, and delivered to grocery stores. The growers narrate the videos
English Ground Beef Pasties Inspired by AllRecipes.com
Ingredients
• 3/4 lb ground beef • 1 medium onion, diced • 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced • 2 sheets store-bought puff pastry dough
• 1 tsp dried parsley • Salt and pepper, to taste • 1/4 cup beef broth (as needed)
Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 2. In a large bowl, combine the beef, onion, and potatoes. 3. Roll out the pastry dough into roughly 10-inch circles or squares. 4. Spoon 1/2 of the beef mixture onto each sheet of dough, then top the mixture with parsley, salt, and pepper. 5. Fold the edges of the dough over the filling, pinching each pasty shut and tucking in both ends. 6. Transfer the pasties to the prepared baking sheet, then cut several small slits in each pasty for ventilation. Bake for 45 minutes. 7. Remove the pasties from the oven and reduce the heat to 350 F. Spoon 1 tsp beef broth into each slit, then bake for an additional 15 minutes. 8. Serve and enjoy!
AQUAMARINE BASKETBALL BUTTERFLY CLOVER
DAFFODIL GREEN IDES LEPRECHAUN
MADNESS SPRING TANGERINE WOMEN
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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
5428 260th St Wyoming, MN 55092 651-462-1946 (Call/Text) VictoryAutoService.com
1 How Victory Auto Changed My Life 2 A Match Made in Cornmeal Batter Heaven 2 Van With 200K Miles? Still Good to Go 3 It’s Time for a Virtual Field Trip!
3 English Ground Beef Pasties 4 Keeping Cars Safe ... From Chocolate!
Keeping Cars Safe ... From Chocolate! Why Justice and His Family Love Victory Auto Service
In 2015, while in his sophomore year of college, Justice Davis got a Ford Escape as a college present, lucky guy! His parents moved to Nebraska that year, and it would be a three-hour drive to visit them. Luckily, Justice’s parents had been Victory customers ever since 2002 — and Justice has kept up with the family tradition. “Obviously, [Victory] does great work, but the people who work there — what they believe in, how they go about their lives, in public or in church — the people there are wholesome,” Justice says. “You know you’re in good hands.” Justice didn’t know anything about his car beyond driving it. But ever since going to Victory, he’s learned a lot, even about unusual circumstances that our mechanics have never seen before!
About two years ago, Justice was getting a regular oil change for his Escape. Then, Jordan Matt, son of Victory Owner Jeff Matt, with a confused expression, approached Justice and asked, “Hey Justice, I gotta ask you a question: Are you missing any Hershey’s Kisses?” “Uh, that’s a weird question to ask in an auto repair shop,” Justice laughed. “No, not that I know of. Why?” Jordan went on to explain that, while the technicians did an overview of the car, they found over 20–25 wrapped and unwrapped Hershey’s Kisses, all Christmas-colored, in the airbox. Justice was shocked — they did have Christmas chocolate kisses in the garage, but they were on the other side from where he kept his car. They certainly never kept them in his Escape.
Then, he got to thinking … “[At the time,] I did have a mouse problem in my garage,” Justice said. The mice may have taken the chocolate from one side of the garage and stashed it in the Ford. Justice and the Victory team had a great laugh from that. Jordan said, “I’ve been doing this for over 10 years and never seen anything like that!” Justice still takes his Ford into the shop whenever he needs an oil change or when he’s about to go on a road trip up north. Luckily, there haven’t been any chocolate stashes since! We’re thrilled to be part of the adventure either way. Thanks so much for you and your parents’ support all these years!
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