If you’ve spent any time in Brantford, there’s a good chance you know the Home Hardware on King George Road, right across from Dairy Queen.

And if you’ve ever spent any time inside the store, there’s an equally good chance you know Arron Jeavons.

Or, as many people around Brantford simply know him: The Lumber Guy.

For 30 years, Arron has been a familiar face behind the counter, out in the lumber yard and around the community. What started as a job he wasn’t even sure he wanted eventually became a career, a second home and a big part of his life in Brantford.

Arron started working at the store in June 1995 when he was 23 years old.

Back then, it was Beaver Lumber.

He was looking for a steady day job while thinking about the future and the family he hoped to eventually have. At the time, he admits he wasn’t exactly convinced lumber was going to become his life.

It didn’t take long for that to change.

“I grew up in the business and it became a career instead of a job,” Arron says.

The store itself looked a lot different in those days.

Deliveries to places like Hamilton were unusual. The store stayed open until 9 p.m. some nights. Delivery was free, and much of the operation still ran on pen and paper.

Today, Arron’s job can involve everything from answering texts from contractors and managing social media to operating a forklift, working the POS system and making deliveries with his D-class licence.

His unofficial job title?

Supervisor of Everything.

After three decades, it’s probably pretty accurate.

When Beaver Lumber eventually became Home Hardware, Arron says the transition was relatively seamless. In fact, there are still longtime customers who affectionately refer to the store as “The Beav.”

What changed more significantly was the industry around them.

Big box stores entered the market, customer expectations evolved and rising fuel costs meant things like free delivery couldn’t last forever. The store adapted by becoming increasingly contractor-focused while continuing to maintain the community feel that Arron believes has always helped set it apart.

Somewhere along the way, Arron also became known online as The Lumber Guy.

And it happened almost by accident.

When a store manager wouldn’t give him access to the company’s social media password, Arron decided to create his own page instead.

He just needed a name.

“I thought Yard Guy just sounded so mundane,” he says. “Lumber Guy felt more like it. Now it’s the go-to page.”

The Lumber Guy Facebook page has since grown to hundreds of followers, but Arron has never treated it simply as another place to sell lumber.

It became an extension of his personality.

There’s humour, community information, local events, charitable causes and, every once in a while, probably something about lumber.

That approach has helped turn The Lumber Guy into something people throughout Brantford recognize.

For Arron, being part of the community has always meant doing more than simply working in it.

Over the years, he has organized food drives and backpack drives, promoted local events and regularly used his platform to support people and organizations around Brantford.

One of the biggest examples is his Fill the Truck food drive.

Over four years, the initiative collected more than 5,000 pounds of food.

And like many of Arron’s ideas, it started with a simple conversation.

A customer came into the store with a bag of dry goods and asked if Arron knew somewhere they could be donated.

“I said this could work,” he recalls. “A week later we were up and running.”

Arron has also supported events including Brantford’s world-record stilt walking attempt and has spent the past 20 years coaching and convening with Brantford Minor Baseball.

For him, those things are simply part of being involved in the city he calls home.

Then there are the signs.

Arron’s pun-filled roadside signs started during a community sign war, but long after the others stopped, he kept going.

“I just wanted to add a fun little moment to someone’s day,” he says.

Over 30 years, Arron’s life grew alongside the business. He married, raised two children and built his life in Brantford, while working close enough to stay involved in school, sports and family life.

Along the way, he collected plenty of stories too, from regular visits with Walter Gretzky to the customer who once got locked in the lumber yard after hours and had to call police.

For Arron, 30 years is about more than a service pin. It’s about the life that grew around the job husband, father, coach, volunteer and, somewhere along the way, The Lumber Guy.

Not bad for a guy who wasn’t sure about the job when he started.

After 30 years of serving customers and giving back to the Brantford community, Arron is looking toward his next chapter.

He is now running for Ward 3 Councillor in the 2026 Brantford municipal election.

Learn more about Arron and his campaign at VoteArron.ca