Andrea’s Auto to close

By
Julia Goujiamanis
-
8

Inside Andrea Dello Russo’s spray-painted garage — with walls covered in chunky letters and animated designs — loads of auto repair equipment and motorcycles fill up the space, set aside for fixing. 

In the doorway leading to her garage, a tight corner is filled with Wonder Woman iconography, a nod to Dello Russo’s success as a woman who brought herself up in the mechanical world. 

But after years of hard work, Andrea Dello Russo of Andrea’s Auto is set to close up her Edgartown auto repair shop. 

In a letter to the community, Dello Russo said “the decision did not come lightly.” She described building meaningful and lasting relationships with loyal customers over the years, and that she’s been honored and grateful to be a part of the Island community. 

But, she said, she’s headed for the West Coast. 

Like many others in the community, Dello Russo has lost her housing here on the Island. 

“I tried to make it work for months,” Dello Russo said about keeping her house. “There was no way I could ever do it and be a sane person. I’d be working far too much, and enjoying life far too little.”

The house that Dello Russo has been living in for 15 years is being put on the market by the landlords, who are living in Connecticut. She said although they offered her the house, she can’t pay $1 million. 

Raised in the basement of what’s now Atria in Edgartown, and what once was a restaurant her parents owned, Dello Russo grew up on the Island, and later attended a military college in Norwich. Following her education, she went on to join the Navy.

Although she knew nothing about engineering when it came to ships and cars, a mentor of hers in the Navy helped her in understanding the skills needed for the job. She described feeling as though she had no help, especially as a woman entering the industry, yet with this mentor’s guidance and her own persistence, a door was opened for her. 

Dello Russo said she took to fixing her own car after leaving the Navy, and then went on to repair cars across the Island once she gained ownership of Andrea’s Auto. She worked in the garage for 10 years under a different company, and created Andrea’s Auto in the same garage as her own auto repair business over the next seven. 

Even with the initial help of her mentor in the Navy, when it came to Andrea’s Auto, Dello Russo said, she had to fight and dig her way into the business as a woman in the mechanical industry. 

In her time back on the Island after leaving the Navy, Dello Russo found housing in any way she could. At one point, she was able to get housing through Morning Glory Farm, working as the farmstand manager. 

Dello Russo said she used rental assistance for a while, but once she gained more success in her auto business, she was no longer eligible. The problem with housing on the Island, she said, comes down to the middle class residents, who aren’t eligible for government assistance but also can barely afford anything else. 

Now, Dello Russo said, she’s seen more people leaving the Island than ever before. 

“That’s essentially what so many people have to do here: work far too much and enjoy this place far too little,” she said. 

Dello Russo said her landlords were kind enough to give her until the end of September to move out, although it still feels as though that’s quickly approaching, she said. Preparing to leave her home has been an emotional journey. 

She said she’s headed to Oregon by car, and once she arrives, Dello Russo will continue her work in education, teaching mechanical work. She’s worked with the Jessi Combs Foundation and the Real Deal Revolution group to help empower women and build their skills in trades such as mechanical work. These foundations run across the country, so she’ll continue that once in Oregon. 

Her career, in a way, is coming full circle. She now has the opportunity to teach younger people how to work with their hands and enter an industry Dello Russo herself had to fight to get into. 

“Teaching is probably the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” Dello Russo said. “It’s really great to give a girl an opportunity to make something, and be super-proud of what she’s created with her own two hands, going forth knowing she can do whatever she wants to do.”

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8 COMMENTS

  1. I’m so sad to see you leave Andrea. You are an extraordinary woman and mechanic. I haven’t experienced you as a teacher, but I’m sure you will be great at whatever you set your mind to! Best wishes! Ride on 🥰

  2. Andrea, You have grown and flourished here and its been fun to watch you grow, become and sadly now leave. Keep smiling, sharing your love and life and do what moves you!

  4. You will be missed my so many. Especially my little BMW will miss you. It has been great to have you as our mechanic. So competent and honest.
    Good luck out west!

  6. Andrea, thank you for being an inspiration to women and girls! 💕
    Good luck 🍀 on your journey and new home!

  7. Unfortunately, wealth wins out. I lived across the street from Andrea’s Restaurant and was always friends with Bucko and Vera and knew Andrea as a little girl. What a great family and community people. Unless you are descended from one of the old families and are lucky enough to have had property passed down you, the Vineyard is only seeing the beginning of working adults have to leave the island. Andrea is a mechanic; the Veterinarians are barely hanging on and many will continue to retire. And, there will be more independent workers to go, too, in the near future. What will be left will be those working for large organizations: government, schools, SSA, etc. Gone and going are the independent tradespeople and professionals: what will the island look like in 10 years? Where will you bring your sick animal (especially large animals)? W
    here will you get your car fixed? Where will you find carpenters and house cleaners and electricians? You’ll always have Town and County Officials, Teachers, Nurses … but what about those who are not protected by the tax payer?

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