Eureka Memories: Groceries with a smile -- Handee Market & the Park Store

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It's safe to say I do 90% of my grocery shopping at Safeway now. The other 10% is probably done at Raley's.

Boy, I miss the old days up in Humboldt County when I didn't even know anybody who shopped at Safeway. Remember when people shopped at the nearest neighborhood grocery store? And, how about those tiny little stores where we'd stop as kids for baseball cards, candy and soda?

Cutten Market was where my mom did all her shopping. It was barely a mile from the house and, ironically, I wound up working there as a 17-year-old scab. The people we'd known for years, the clerks, tried to unionize in 1974. My mom got me a job. The people picketed for months. But, they didn't unionize and Cutten Market survived for years afterward.

I used to enjoy the toy section and the magazine section. It was a big deal when the new series of sports hobby cards arrived. And, for some reason, even the most insipid toys drew my attention. I had no interest in paddle ball because the rubberband always broke. Still, when I bought rubber ball for 29 cents to throw against my back wall, I always considered the paddle ball for 89 cents, too.

I liked that people knew us and that my mom, for some reason, got away with parking on the wrong side of the street if she only needed to run in and buy one item. Johnny Sandretto was a cool dude, as the original owner.

The Park Store, owned by Rex Bohn's family, was my favorite store ... all-time, ever. They carried every kind of sports card and Rex's dad would tell me if the new shipment of Topps cards had the new series or whether it was just another couple boxes of cards I'd been buying for a month. I've previously mentioned my summers-long addiction to Goosecicles -- cherry or blueberry.

Bohn's dad, I think his name was Herb, seemed like the nicest guy around. When my kids see an old shopkeeper from a movies based in the 1960s, they wonder if anybody was ever as caring and concerned as the movie shopkeepers seem to be. I tell them there was, at least, one guy -- Mr. Bohn.

If a store on Alliance Road in Arcata can be exotic, then I found Alliance Market (is that the name?) very exotic...mysterious. It was a small grocery store that my aunt and uncle frequented...but, also a store my cousin and I could visit for candy and other treats.

Being a Eureka kid, I thought it was cool that log truck drivers would stop there and hang out. I hated walking to school, but I walked to Alliance Market a lot.

Bonomini's Market is one I'd think I'd have frequented, but ... even though I lived in Pine Hill briefly, I rarely visited it. It would've ruined my image of the Bonomini males as baseball heroes if I'd seen them working in a grocery store, I think.

In 1966, Pine Hill Market opened a little restaurant -- a snack shack of sorts. They started selling hamburgers and fries. I remember, as a chubby 10-year-old, finding the idea of my adult sister buying six hamburgers for $1 mind-blowing. Then, I had my mom drive me to Pine Hill. We bought six burgers...and they were the size of a 50-cent piece. Still, how far ahead of its time was that market? Safeway and Raley's are selling full meals for families on the go now.

Oh, I hated the folks who opened Shears Market in Cutten. It was a couple blocks for Cutten Market...and closer to my house. I thought the interlopers were going to run Cutten Market out of business. Then, I realized that the great, big parking lot was never full. So, Shears Market became the best place to race bicycles -- circa 1966. When we realized the parking lot lights allowed for night riding...we acknowledged that there was room in Cutten for two stores.

Then, Shears became...something else...and it's Murphy's Market now. By the time I was living alone with my two oldest sons (they were 8 and 10 then), we did all our shopping at Murphy's in Cutten. Safeway was a couple miles away, but I knew the people at Murphy's.

There was a tall, blonde woman who just adored my then youngest son. He'd go hang out up there and read sports magazines. She'd visit with him and got to know as much about him as I did. Whenever he was late getting home from school, I'd start the search at Murphy's. If anybody knew where Trent was, it'd be that blonde woman. (And, I feel terrible not remembering her name.)

Handee Market still open on F Street in Eureka? It was about the last of the neighborhood markets. It saddened me to acknowledge that nobody could find competitive prices there, but the owner was a guy named Dale and I know lots of us looked for reasons to buy something...anything...at Handee Market. I know my kids thought Handee Market was as magical as I used to find Cutten Market.

Never a fan of that big market in Trinidad and I don't know why. We'd go to the beach and then stop for a soda and, I don't know, I felt like an outsider.

Now, it's Safeway and Raley's. Then...Raley's and Safeway. My loss.