6 segments from 2 interviews touch on this subject.
My father-in-law, Emmett Pierce, opened it in 1946, when the boys came home from the war. It was half a hardware store and half whatever the town needed. He sold nails by the pound, chicken feed, school shoes in Septembe…
Linda, what was it like growing up in the store? The store was our third parent. I could make change before I could ride a bike. My brother and I counted washers into little paper bags for a penny a bag. And the smell, e…
What were the hard years? The flood spring of 1974 was hard, but it was a busy hard. We sold every pump, every pair of boots, every foot of hose in the county. And Jean just wrote names in a notebook because nobody had m…
What happened to the building? It sat empty for six years, and then the Quilting Guild and the Centennial Committee got it as the community exhibit hall. So this June, there will be a hundred years of photographs hanging…
Dot, last question. What did the store teach you about this town? That credit is just another word for trust, and this town always paid its debts. You can carve that over the door if you like. Maybe we will. Thank you bo…
Two things: sprinklers and the contract. We leveled and ditched that farm for flood irrigation my whole young life, and then in 1968 or '69, my dad and I put in wheel lines, and suddenly the bench ground that never water…