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