James Morning and Sons celebrates 50th anniversary

By Robert Belardi

James Morning worked for King Township for 10 years. A standard 7 to 5 job in the 1960s. He always had the ambition of beginning his own business on the side. Why not? It's some extra money.
Thoughts began percolating within in his mind. What if this business turned into something big? He could pass it down to his children and begin not just a business, but a generational enterprise.
In 1969, Morning began working his business part-time with one water truck. Morning would extract water from wells and fill up residents' pools in the local area.
“I quit the township after two years. Started, full time in the business. Ended up buying a second truck. It was a gravel truck and I put a tank in the back for a water truck. I always thought at the time, ‘if I kept the business, I'll stay in the business year-round,'” Morning said.
Fast forward the tape 50 years later. The 85-year-old Aurora native and current Kettleby resident is happily retired, while two of his sons – Drew and Grant – are at the forefront of the business. His grandson Aaron owns a share of the business and drives the trucks.
The company has nine trucks – a testament to this successful family business.
“We're busy. We travel from Oakville to Barrie, Orillia, Owen Sound. We work for pool companies and they give us the work.”
Morning says he had no idea the business would get this big. He still recalls his very first job. It was a Saturday morning and he hauled water to a customer for their pool. He kept the job for weekends only and in his first two weekends, he hauled 40,000 gallons of water.
The children were in their early teens at the time. They both were working for him slowly and in 1985, Drew and Grant officially began working for James full time. That's when the company earned its name – James Morning and Sons Ltd.
Up until five years ago, all the work wasn't as arduous as you might think. But, one job for Consumers Gas came around, and the employees worked all through the night.
“It was a 24-hour deal. I don't know how many gallons it was. But we had to work 24 hours to do this job,” Morning said.
“That was the biggest job we've ever done.”
Most of the jobs take place in the summer. In the winter, it is a lot quieter.
Morning says he does believe this will be a generational enterprise that will run in the family. He says his sons and his grandsons enjoy what they do and are proud to don the Morning name.
The office is located at 3050 Lloydtown-Aurora Rd. in Kettleby. The office can be reached at 905-727-9097.