Mr. Alfred G. Bettencourt, universally known as Fred, was born and raised on the family farm on the Dartmouth side of Horseneck Road. Widowed since 1974, he has three children, Andrew and Jo-Ann of Westport, and Janice of Dartmouth. By the time he struck out on his own at the age of 22 he’d witnessed an event that changed Westport’s landscape forever, the 1938 hurricane.
The succession of businesses he’s operated at 821 Main Road reflects both his independent and entrepreneurial instincts and the changing economies of the times. In 1949 he opened his first business, The Village Spa, selling sandwiches and ice cream. The A.G. Bettencourt Trucking Company followed in 1958 with one truck and he eventually added excavating services. In 1972, Mr. Bettencourt added heating oil and fueling equipment to his line.
Two years later he tried hauling one or two loads of mulch and liked it so much he expanded that part of his business to what it is today. As the construction climate cooled in 1976, he shuttered the excavating enterprise and continued long distance trucking, hauling crushed glass to a recycler in Maine. He retired in 1990. He’s always enjoyed the call of the open road, whether for business or pleasure, and has visited nearly every state in the union.
First business
“In 1949, before I started the present business, I had a place called the Village Spa that sold ice cream and sandwiches. It ran till 1960.”
Army service
“I got drafted into the army between 1951 and 1953. I was a motor sergeant in charge of 42 trucks in Heilbronn, Germany.”
Change in course
“When I came back I was more interested in running equipment than being inside and pulling sodas so I rented out the Spa and began operating heavy equipment for someone.”
Present company
“We provide heating oil, diesel fuel, mulches, and aggregates - 22 products in the yard here including chips, loam, clamshells, crushed stone, fill, loam, and sand.”
Horseneck Beach
"I have fond memories of Horseneck Beach, the way it was then versus the way it is now. When I was 11, where the trailers now there were homes on both sides of that road. There were lawns in back of homes on water side, in front of homes on other side That’s how badly the shore has eroded. Now you can barely get trailer on without it getting washed away overnight.”
Travel
“In the summer I go north where it’s cool, in winter I go south where it’s warm. Last summer I visited Amish country in Pennsylvania. I’ve been to 37 states.”
Next state to visit
“I’d like to catch the northwest quadrant.”
Favorite places
“The west coast of Florida. It’s less congested than the east coast. We have friends and relatives there. I hauled crushed glass up to Maine for many years, got to know lot of people and am very comfortable going up there, too.”
1938 hurricane
“It was like a warm-weather blizzard that came unannounced. The winds and rain were heavy. Two south facing buildings were lost on my father’s farm.”
The next day
“I wasn’t involved in any rescue during the storm I was only 11. But the following day I helped voluntarily in the search for bodies. Bodies were found upriver in drainage ditches. I never found any.”
Destruction
“A lot of the homes had washed up on the first farm that was in the Bayside area. My uncle was renting that farm and most of homes got washed up in the marsh there. Half houses, whole houses, crushed up houses, and boats that had been driven from the sea.”
What do you like about Westport
“The fact we don’t have anything to brag about. Most of the things I like are that we don't have certain things - water, sewer, sidewalks. It’s laid back more than other towns and very much countrified over here.”
Present role in company
“I retired as president of the business in 1990. I’m still available as a consultant and advisor to my son Andrew who runs the business.”
Looking back
“I enjoyed very much servicing my customers. I enjoyed that part of trucking that involved traveling to Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and other parts of Massachusetts. I never looked at any trip as a job. I looked at it as a vacation. I had no one to answer to but myself.”
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