More than four decades ago, husband and wife team Paul and Justine Devlin co-founded The Avanti Company in Avon Park and since then, we have continued to service the Florida flow meter and metering systems market.
Justine recently wrote a new book titled “When did I see you Lord” and we thought our blog readers may be interested in reading an excerpt from the book.
Hyacinth House…
Meanwhile, Paul and I were working at making a living for this tribe…our office was in our home…our small house was bulging at the seams. We needed space. We needed a real office. And so, we looked and found nothing our purse or paper would fit. Until, one day, a For Sale sign appeared on the house ACROSS THE STREET…a small, 800 square foot place, two bedrooms, kitchen, living room and bath. Perfect! We could give it dual use…an office and guest house. We bought it!
By this time, our second son Tim (Avanti’s now President and Owner) had finished two years of college, worked at a gas company in Winter Haven, and came to work for us. We named our meter and valve company Avanti, Italian for “no looking back!” We knew it would be tempting to long for things, real or imagined, from a life already lived. Avanti reminded us daily that as the clock ticks, so do our hearts, and our lives must move on. God would supply the grace!
Our oldest son Chris came into the business also. By now he had a wife and child, had graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree, and had become disillusioned with the corporate world. It was a glorious time. As a mother, it was the best of times!
“With two sons … in the business, Paul on the road, and me in the office, the business grew out of the little house across the street. We were able to find an old A & P grocery store, in the middle of Avon Park, and convert it into offices. Now what to do with the little house across the street?”
Paul and I gave ourselves a week…our way of praying and weighing the pros and cons of decisions…and at the end of the week…we both decided to keep the house and use it to house those who needed shelter. We named it Hyacinth House after an old story:
“Once upon a time there lived a poor young couple, in a small cottage, on the outskirts of a tiny town. Their life together had been sprinkled with hardships, their labor sparse and their possessions, few.
One day the wife gave her husband their last pennies and asked him to go into town to buy bread. When he returned, he handed her a beautiful purple hyacinth. The wife was surprised and worried: ‘What will we eat’. Her husband looked at her with love and replied: ‘Sometimes we just need to nourish our souls.”
Through our FISH line, they came…those without a roof or food. We gathered furniture and all that was needed for living…many were anxious to give…and the house was completely furnished and ready to share.
The Avanti Company was founded in 1977 by Paul and Justine Devlin and is headquartered in Avon Park, FL. We provide water meters, metering systems, AMI support, on-site flow meter testing, sewer flow monitoring, inspection and assessment services for the water, wastewater, agricultural, petroleum and industrial marketplaces. Avanti represents products from McCrometer, Itron, Hach Flow, Honeywell/Elster, 64 seconds, Infosense, Nicor, , and others. Please visit our website at www.avanticompany.com, email us at info@avanticompany.com or call us at 863-453-5336 for assistance with all of your flow meter and metering system needs.