Butch Remembers Local Businessmen . . . Part III

   As I stated in my last two columns, there were several Mom and Pop businesses in my hometown when I was growing up. Unlike most franchises and chain stores today, I knew the owners and they knew me. Here are a few more…

   The large brick building in the middle of downtown housed the dry goods store, the restaurant and the drug store. On the second floor above those was the Chambers Hotel, owned by Elmer and Lulu Chambers, both of whom were in their 90s and had their living quarters up there. Elmer, who was short and walked with a cane, very seldom ventured down the steep stairway. He had been a tailor in his earlier years. During the warmer months, Lulu often sat on the sidewalk wooden bench near the stairs. She was quite deaf and wore one of those old-fashioned type hearing aids, a rather large contraption with wires. On a hot afternoon, she usually had a Kleenex stuffed down the front of her dress, with a portion sticking out to grab when need be to wipe the sweat from her brow. I sat on the bench beside her on a few occasions as I munched on my ice cream cone, and tried to stir up a conversation, but even if I spoke loudly, she didn’t understand a word I said…so we just sat there and watched the cars drive by.

   Across the street from Slim’s barbershop was another barber, Oscar Endicott. Oscar was a tall, homely looking fellow and not much of a talker. He had purchased the shop from George Wever in the early ’50s, and sometimes George, a bald and short little old man, would fill in if Oscar was sick. Oscar also sold Knapp brand shoes, but I doubt that he ever sold very many. I always had my hair cut at Slim’s because he took his time, talked about sports and had plenty of comic books for kids to read while waiting. However, one day when Slim was gone, Dad sent me to Oscar’s for a haircut. I just assumed he would cut it in the same style, but after he was finished and turned me around to see myself in the mirror, I could not believe what I was seeing. He had given me a buzz cut! That was the week before school photos were to be taken…Great!…I never had Oscar cut my hair again.

   The Ryker family owned a plumbing, heating and electrical business located next to the library. Bob Ryker had started his business at home in the late 1940s, and then purchased the old Rettinger Photo Studio building in 1950. His two oldest boys, Eddie and Max, joined him after they graduated from high school in the mid-‘50s. Bob passed away at the early age of 54, and Eddie and Max continued on with their trades…and later on two of their sons, Chuck and Jeff, also took up those professions. I don’t understand a darn thing about electric, heating or plumbing, but every Ryker who I have known is an expert on those things. It must be in their genes!

   Don and Jean Rentschler owned the IGA grocery on north Main street when I was young. It was a nice grocery for a small town, and Don and his wife kept it neat, clean and well-stocked. Their two boys, Rick and John, helped out after school and during the summer months. There was a locker plant behind the store, so folks often had Don cut and package their meat. Harold Lowe also worked as a butcher for some time. Jean manned the checkout counter, but several others also worked there, including Mary Threlkeld, Frances Caldwell, Bernice Harshbarger and Norma Dickey.  Rick, who was a year younger than me and a long-time member of the Boy Scouts, wore a white apron like his father. He bagged the groceries and carried them out for elderly customers. John, who was four years younger, swept the floor and washed windows. John had an unusual musical talent, at least compared to other kids…he played the accordion, and was very good at it! Don retired in 1965 and sold the business to Clarence East and his son, Dennis. Rick Rentschler joined the military after graduation, and sadly lost his life during the Vietnam conflict. The stress of Rick’s death was too much for Don, and he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1969. There are no groceries within the town today, but luckily we now have a Dollar General on the outskirts of town by State Road 47. I shop there quite often. The employees are friendly, but I don’t know their names…and they don’t know me. A sad comment on business today.

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 36 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.