Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (May 31, 1995)
U End of an era for Bristow's Market F ” L-R: John and Linda Bristow and Don Bristow By April Sykes VOL 114_______ NO. 23_______ 8 Pages Wednesday, May 31, 1995,_______ Morrow County Heppner, Oregon lone auction and barbecue June 3 Jannie Allen (I) and Harold Rietmann display items to be auctioned at the annual lone auction June 3. By April Sykes The 33rd lone United Church of Christ Auction will be held this Saturday, June 3, at the Willows Grange Hall in lone. The country store will open at 10 a.m. with the auction getting underway at 10:30 a.m. with the Triad Auctioneers. The silent auction, featuring collec tibles and antiques, will begin at 10 a.m. with the bids open ed at 12:30 p.m. The country store will feature crafts, toys, homemade foods, books and a lot of new items. Of special interest this year is an intricate marble tower made by Harold Rietmann. Rietmann also cut out decorative wooden figures, painted by Jannie Allen. Other items to be auctioned include babystitting, yard work, desserts, gas, a haircut, dinners, subscriptions, gift cer tificates, rounds of golf, an overnight fishing trip, movie passes, hay, an aerial applica tion, videos, lube jobs, a fami ly swimming pass and a pass to lone High School home games, not to mention anti ques, quilts, Round-Up tickets and a life-size cardboard cutout of Shaquille O'Neal. The pit barbecue dinner, which begins at 12:30 p.m., in cludes barbecued beef, baked beans, a variety of salads, cookies and French bread. Cost for the dinner is $5 for adults and $2.50 for children, with pre-schoolers free. Morrow County crops tour set June 9 A crops tour of Morrow County will begin at the small grain variety trials on Highway 206, about three miles west of Ruggs at 9 a.m., June 9. The tour will include "show and te ll" sessions at the Oregon State University replicated small grain variety trials at the Charlie Anderson farm, and broadlead herbicide trials at the Wayne Rietmann farm. The small grain variety trial at the Anderson's is part of OSU's statewide testing program. "Researchers Mike Moore and Dan Ball and technicians at OSU's Pendleton Research Sta tion seed and harvest both plots. It's been terrific that the Research Station has continued to address our concerns in Mor row County despite budget cutbacks," noted Phil Nesse, OSU crops Extension agent for Morrow and Gilliam counties. "The variety trial at Ander son's is the only trial in the OSU variety program that is located off-station,” he added. Other stops are at demon stration trials at the Bill Jepsen farm and at the John Rietmann farm, plus a stop to discuss double summer fallow at a field farmed by Keith Rea of lone. The final stop will include a discussion of die noxious weed program by Morrow County Weed officer, Dave Pranger. "Yellow areas in winter wheat have been common the past several springs," con tinued Nesse. "W hile the causes may be many, one of the likely culprits is sulfur deficien cy. Bill Jepsen "grabbed the bull by the horns” and laid out an experiment to compare the yield of wheat fertilized with sulfur to wheat without sulfur. They will look at these trials and give everyone a chance to comment. "John Rietmann is one of two Morrrow County cooperators to seed seven different varieties with their own drills as part of the OSU Extension Service Variety Drill Strip Program. Rietmann is from lone. The other cooperator is Lyle Peck of Heppner. "O SU Extension agents line up cooperators in the wheat growing counties and furnish them with seed. The coopera tors then fertilize, seed, control weeds, and harvest the 1000 foot plots with little assistance from the Extension agent. The information gleaned from these plots give additional proof to growers and agribusiness of the usefulness of various varieties. Because of the involvement of growers, this is done at little cost to the taxpayer," notes Nesse. Industry representatives from Gustafson and Ciba- Geigy will also be on hand to discuss new seed treatments for 1995. The tour will wind up at about 12:30 p.m. for a lunch hosted by industry at the lone park. For more information, con tact the Morrow County Exten sion office, 676-9642. The tour will carry two private applicator recertification credits. "It's the end of an era," com mented Don Bristow on the sale of Bristow's Market in lone. The market, which the Bristows have sold to Barbara and Norm Zeller of Heppner, may be the longest family- owned market in the state. It's all I've ever done," said Don. "I've worked here as long as I can remember, since grade school. We all (the Bristow family) worked for the store." John and Don's grandfather, Edmund John Bristow, were originally partners with another man. Edmund John took over the store in 1914. In 1944 their father, Edmund Wade Bristow, took over the store, and in 1979, John suc ceeded him. Besides John and Don, brothers Tom, now living in Portland, and Gerald, Tillamook, and sister Mary Jean McCabe all helped out in the family store. John's daughter also worked at the store. Own ing a store was a way of life, with the family pretty much tied to the job six days a week. The Bristows have a standing joke that no one gets off on flig h t day. "You can't even die on freight day," they laughed. Over the years, the store passed some memorable mile- stones-their father was the first to bring in milk, and they were the first to put in packaged beer, which was quite an event. Apparently one woman told the Bristows she would never buy their milk again because she had to put her hand in the cooler where the beer was. Don was also the one to report the bank robbery at the Bank of Eastern Oregon across the street. " I saw him put on the ski m ask," said Don, after which he called the police. Up until recently the Bristows didn't charge for a cup of cof fee. "W e finally had to charge a quarter, because no one would take it if it was free," said John. There was no refrigeration and no deep freezes in the early days. Don says that they had faucets over the produce, which they would turn on every so often. In 1946 or '47 Don and John's father put in refrigeration for the milk which they started to carry. Before that time there was very little produce because it just didn't keep. In 1947 Ernie McCabe, Mary Jean's husband, put in photo by April Sykes the meat department. Their father kept a rocking chair in the meat department to relax and at one time the store had a pot belly stove. During the 1962 flood, the water was so deep it came out the front door. "The town rallied around u s," said the Bristows. "People came in and helped like troopers." When the store was at its previous location, it almost caught fire. The Swanson's store next to it burned to the ground. "W e were all on the roof spraying it down," says Tom. "The roof was so hot it was steaming." The biggest day for the store was September 14, 1993, when 2,500 to 2,700 people on the Cy cle Oregon bicycle tour came to town. "W e were well stocked and prepared for them ," said Don, but four people were busy that day from 7 a.m. un til they were finally able to leave at 10 p.m. The store is not just a market, but the hub of the community, an information central, a delivery service and even a watchdog. When the fire siren goes off, "People call up and say where's the fire," laughs Linda. They also call up and ask when the school bus is coming in. The store is a dropoff for potluck dishes and prescriptions and a bulletin board for community activities. When the local kids leave their school bags at the store, the Bristows even deliver them home. When the bank alarm goes off the Bristows call across the street to see if everything's okay and if unsavory characters pass through town, they make sure people aren't alone in the shops or post office. In one instance, the Bristows even delivered to their com petitors. In the early days there were three "starving” markets in lone. A woman called up Bristow's Market and asked if they had any Tillamook cheese. Don replied that 'yes' they did. The woman then told him she had put in an order at Hicks' Market and asked Don if he would deliver the cheese to Hicks' so they could bring it to her. " I did," laughed Don. The Bristows all concur that they will miss the kids most of all. "John and Don baby all the children," said Linda. "They chase them and tickle them. This particular kid just loved it. He came up to John and said, Fishing Derby June 11 at dam The sixth annual kids' fishing derby will be held Sunday, June 11, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Willow Creek Reservoir in Heppner. The derby is spon sored by the Heppner Ranger District and the Heppner Lions Club. Kids up to age 13 are invited to attend. Pre-registration starts at 12:30 p.m. Fish weigh-in will begin at 3:30 p.m. Prizes will be awarded to the child catching the biggest and the most fish. A casting contest will also be held. Children must be accom panied by a parent or guardian and should bring their own fishing rod and tackle. For more information, con tact Renee Mullner, 676- 2166, or 676-9187. d o n g xa.tu.[atLoni. 'I love you.' And then turned to his mother and said, 'Mom my, I don't want them to go. I'll miss them ." Don says that they have given the kids can dy when they came in at least since John has been running the store, "an d probably before". The kids eat ice cream or pop as they travel around the store with their parents and leave the wrappers in the cart. "W e just look in the cart to see what they had," said John. "W e've had hundreds of kids come through here," adds Don. "W e get to know the kids. We feel a closeness to them." John tells a story about two high school kids who were arguing about who would get the privilege of paying their grocery bill. "Finally," says John, "one of them said, 'okay, charge it to my dad." The store had charge ac counts all through the years and still has 180 accounts. " I don't think we've had a bad ac count,” says John. "Som e were late. Over the years, peo ple have certainly been loyal to the store," he added. "W e're both delighted that someone local has decided to take it over." The Bristows say that the town's loyalty has enabled them to stay competitive. "W e made a conscious decision to be a full service store," says John. "Not a convenience store." "Actually we're very com petitive for a small store," adds Don. "Part of that is because of the support of the people of the town." So what's in store for the Bristows after the sale of the market? First of all, Don and John have been selected the grand marshals for the annual Fourth of July celebration. John, 62, plans to stay on a month or two to help the Zellers get adjusted. On August 1, he and Linda will travel to Alaska, flying from Ketchikan to Prince Wales Island to fish. They also plan a family reunion in August and in September they will go to the coast. In the spring they will travel around the United States. In between all this they hope to take their trailer on camping and fishing trips. John has two children and four grandchildren, with another on the way to help occupy his time. Don, 60, will leave this week to attend a four-day school at Twin Falls, Idaho, to become a rain and hail crop adjustor. Don is philosophical about his long career as a grocer. "If I had to choose, I probably wouldn't have chosen this, but I have no regrets," said Don. "It certainly hasn't been bor ing" The store was to be closed Wednesday and then reopen Thursday under the manage ment of the Zellers. / xuciuntEi See MCGG for Graduation Gift Ideas Morrow County Grain Grower* Lexington 989-8221 1-800-452-7396