The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Cranberry Portage's lone gas station and convenience store is back in business. The Gas Trax station burned down last month, causing some residents to worry that they may never again have the luxury of such a business in their small community. But within a couple of weeks of the $500,000 blaze, owner Mike Petryk was operating out of a temporary building he brought to the site. He said he hopes to eventually build a permanent facility to replace the downed gas station, which was originally a motel. Petryk and his father built the downed facility as the Centennial Motel in 1967. The motel lasted until 1989, at which time the younger Petryk opened a building materials store in the location. It became a gas station in 1995. Petryk, whose former residence was in the gas station, narrowly escaped the inferno on June 5. Left with bruises and burns, he spent a day-and-a-half being treated for smoke inhalation.
