The Bruening's sons Chad and Marty work in the business and the family has never been closer, Bruce Bruening told the Democrat. "When they were growing up, I didn't get to see them a whole lot. I was working 12 to 14 hours a day. Actually, we're closer now than we were when they grew up."

Although Bruce and Sandra never planned on having their sons join them, they were pleasantly surprised when they both decided to work full-time after graduating from high school and attending college.

Neither son said he was really pressured to enter the business. "In a way he [Bruce] did, but not really," said Chad Bruening to the Democrat. "When we were real young we dreaded it. He'd make us go out (and help him) at night or on the weekends when we could be watching TV or doing something else."

Publication date: 10/10/2005