Now more than ever, local news matters.

Now more than ever, local news matters.

Riverhead’s newest auto mechanic is a woman, and although it’s the 21st century, that still raises eyebrows — even in a town that had a female auto mechanic for many years.

Raised eyebrows are nothing new for Chelsea Dispenziere, an auto technician with more than eight years’ experience who started working at Louie’s Auto Repair Shop on Sweezy Avenue this week.

“Some old-timers say they don’t want me to work on their car,” she said at the shop yesterday. Others even refuse to acknowledge she’s a mechanic. The resistance always comes from men, she says. “The women are fine with it.”

That kind of reaction doesn’t faze the 26-year-old mechanic with a flair for fixing automotive electronics. Everywhere she’s worked, Dispenziere says, she’s had to prove herself to her bosses, coworkers and customers.

The idea of a woman mechanic took the shop’s proprietor, Louie Waski by surprise, he admits. His friend, Scott Tocci, who is Dispenziere’s uncle, called him to see if he had work for his niece.

“He said, ‘I’ve got a girl coming from California and she’s really great,'” Waski recalled.

In his 30-plus years of experience, he’s only known one female mechanic, Peggy Smith, who worked for many years at Van Dyck and Yousik on East Main Street.

Dispenziere came in for a test; Louie and his wife Karen decided to hire her full-time.

“We saw how good she was,” he said. “She worked in a GM dealership and she’s very good with technical problems and electronics,” Waski said.

“Now she’s the talk of the town.”

Dispenziere, who spent some of her formative years in Riverhead, where her father, Mike lives before moving to California to live with her mother, became interested in cars at a very young age. She’s just always loved cars, she said. Starting with the very first car she owned, she loved working on them too.

Every step of the way, she’s had to prove herself — to teachers, potential bosses, bosses, co-workers and customers. It’s been a struggle her whole career.

Women in the auto repair field are still pretty rare — less than 2 percent of the nation’s 800,000 auto repair technicians are female, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

When she arrived for work at Louie’s, Dispenziere brought her large mechanics’ tool chest. It contains everything a good mechanic needs to troubleshoot and repair vehicles. It also includes a box of the latex gloves she uses to keep her hands clean.

“I don’t tell people outside of work what I do for a living,” Dispenziere said as she worked under the hood of a Volkswagen sedan inside Louie’s shop yesterday afternoon. If she does let on that she works in an auto repair shop, “I tell them I mop floors,” she said with a wry smile.

Dispenziere, who is single, said she’s learned guys aren’t too keen on dating mechanics.

“When I go out, I wear dresses and heels and my nails are always done,” she said, pulling off one latex glove to show off her manicure.

“They never know,” she said, laughing. The survival of local journalism depends on your support. We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community. Support RiverheadLOCAL today.

The survival of local journalism depends on your support. We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community. Support RiverheadLOCAL today.