Photo courtesy of Robert Arends Rylen Arends, Robert Arends and Quentin Arends will be the new faces offering leaf vacuum services in Marshall. Quintin bought the Curbside Vac business and equipment from former owner Larry Magrath.

MARSHALL — It started as a way for Marshall residents to help manage the leaves that pile up in their yards every fall, Larry Magrath said. But after 20 years, Magrath said it was time for his Curbside Vac service to pass to new owners.

“I really appreciate someone local wanting to take it over,” Magrath said.

Besides being a local, the new owner of the leaf vacuum business is a young entrepreneur. Quentin Arends is still a student, and he said he will be working together with his dad Robert Arends and his brother Rylen Arends on the new venture.

“I started a lawn care business about two years ago,” Quentin Arends said. His family knew Magrath, and Larry had reached out about possibly taking over Curbside Vac. Arends said leaf vacuuming seemed like it would be a good fit, in addition to the other landscaping work he does.

“We thought it would be a nice kind of small business for the fall,” Robert Arends said.

Quentin said he planned on giving Curbside Vac a new name. He said he was thinking of The Leaf Collectors as a new business name.

Magrath said he started Curbside Vac as a private-pay yard waste pickup service in 2004. Before moving to Marshall, Magrath had lived in other communities where similar services were more common for picking up compostable waste like leaves from people’s yards.

“It worked really well,” Magrath said. He thought something similar could work in Marshall, for people who weren’t able or didn’t want to haul leaves to the city compost site on their own. Vacuum service customers would rake their leaves to the curb, and schedule a time for removal.

When he started Curbside Vac, “It seemed to take off,” Magrath said. “People have been really loyal over the years, and I appreciate that.”

Business for Curbside Vac tended to be seasonal, with October and November being busy times for leaf pickup, he said.

“The last couple of years, I had been transitioning out of it,” Magrath said of the business. Picking up piles of leaves with the vacuum equipment goes pretty fast, “But it’s still a little bit of work,” he said.

When Arends was interested in the business, Magrath sold the Curbside Vac equipment and customer list.

Quentin Arends said he’s learned about the leaf vacuum equipment and how to use it from Magrath.

“It’s pretty simple,” he said. “There was a little bit of practice to it,” he said. So far, he said he had gotten some interest from customers about the leaf vacuum service.

Quentin and Robert Arends said hoped that the leaf vacuum business would be one that could stay in his family in the future.

Quentin Arends said people interested in The Leaf Collectors’ services could contact him or Robert Arends. Magrath said customers could also call the usual Curbside Vac number, and be redirected to the new owners.

Magrath said he was appreciative for the support of customers over his years owning Curbside Vac. “Marshall’s been a good community to work in,” he said.