Marlan "Hawk" Haakenson looked up at the north wall of his gas station on Tuesday morning at a younger version of himself.

Smiling back at him through 33 years and a bushy beard was a happy man who was about to open a new business.

When Hawk's Pit Stop opened in 1972, gas sold for 35 cents per gallon. At Hawk's, it went for 31. That's been his modus operandi for more than three decades, selling his "refinery fresh" gas for a few cents less than the other guys.

With the constant support of his family, Haakenson has survived gas wars, recessions and a few pot shots through the windows of his Memorial Highway store. A lot of city and county business was done over the counter at his place during Haakenson's tenure as a city commissioner, mayor and county commissioner. But now Hawk is ready to fly away, to become a full-fledged snowbird, as it were.

He has sold his business to a neighbor, Ivan Marchuk.

Like Haakenson, Marchuk is getting into the business as a young man. He is 20 years old. He moved with his family to Bismarck from the Ukraine when he was 5, and has lived near Hawk's Pit Stop since.

"I've always liked this little gas station," Marchuk said. "It's nice. I've always come here. We're going to keep it the same, with a few changes."

Marchuk won't change the "discounted" prices Haakenson has always tried to give. He will continue to try to sell a gallon of gasoline for a few cents less than the competition.

Haakenson will continue to operate the business through the end of the month. When it opens Thursday morning, Hawk's Pit Stop will be selling gas at his wholesale price, a gimmick he started in April. The station has been closed for much of the summer, as Haakenson traveled, dealt with Burleigh County business and made arrangements to sell.

Marchuk will take over Sept. 1.

That will give Haakenson and his wife, Barb, even more time to take their camper on extended vacations. They'll even have the time to actually go fishing, something a sign out in front of the business has jokingly said they've been doing every weekend for 33 years, but they've rarely gotten around to doing.

When he finished talking about his plans Tuesday, Haakenson took the photo down from the wall, spit-polished it and put it away. A chapter closed.

(Reach reporter Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tony.spilde@;bismarcktribune.com.)