By George P. Hassett

On Friday morning Vinny Vicente opened his Gilman Square gas station for the day the same way he had six days a week since 1978 — waving to early-morning commuters who pass by his station each morning and honk hello. But this wasn‚Äôt a beginning it was an ending. After 30 years on Medford Street, the Vicente‚Äôs ‚Äì Tito, Vinny and Aderito ‚Äì have sold their business, a neighborhood landmark, and Friday was the last day the station was Vicente-owned.

Throughout the day, customers came into the station to say goodbye, exchanging hugs, well wishes and stories. Brian Langton said he would miss more than the gas. “I’m going to miss the conversation and the laughter and the banter.”

John Newell and his mother Birdina said they have coming to Vicente’s for their auto needs since it opened. They said the Vicente’s were quick to put the needs of the neighborhood over making an extra buck.

“Everyone knew these guys would help if they could. Even if money was short they would let you make payments by the week or the month. You don’t see that across the street,” John said, pointing to a nearby gas station. “That’s why every hour five or 10 cars pass by and honk. People appreciate them.”

When Vicente’s opened in 1978, a month after that year’s famous blizzard (“We shoveled for a month,” Vinny said), gas cost 70 cents a gallon and most neighborhood homes held several generations of families under one roof.

“There was more unity then, more families. The grandparents were upstairs, the kids were downstairs and the uncle and aunt lived next door. Today you have a lot of renters and people living month to month,” Vinny said.

The world outside may have changed but for three decades life inside Vicente’s has stayed mostly the same. Vinny helps customers in front, pointing them in the right direction (“I’m the face out there,”) and Tito and Aderito work on cars in the back.

The Vicente’s came to Somerville via the Azores as children. They lived on Pearl Street and graduated from Somerville High School’s trade program where they learned auto mechanics.

“The best thing that ever happened to me was that I had the chance to come to this country,” Vinny said on Friday. “The second best thing was that I came to Somerville. The people in this city trusted three strangers and gave me and my brothers a shot. They made us a landmark.”