Holen promise enthuses community
Holen promise enthuses community
By ALLAN TINKER
You can almost smell the cinnamon from the bakery and the aroma of coffee from the promised place to sit in the front of Holen’s Super Valu. The promises are there; all they need is time and a lot of hard work to make all come true.
“When will it open?” is the anxious question on the street. Scott and Diane Holen answer, “We hope February, maybe March, possibly April.” The new sign on the front door promises, “soon.”
The Holens are caught between when they would like to open and the realities of coolers ordered, shipping and installation procedures, regulations on wiring and access to the spaces for the equipment and the many things that have to be done for the store to be ready to open.
One by one, the obstacles are being overcome: The too-short door is now adequate to allow equipment to come into the store; the wiring is being upgraded to three-phase; tiles are being replaced and cleaning is well underway. Along the way, little “gems” from the past have surfaced: a long-ago-worn red vest, familiar to those who knew the Grenz family; photos of customers and transitions of the past; old grocery ads with unbelievable bargains compare to today’s standards; and items of glass, metal and crockery that have been stored out of sight in corners seldom visited.
The Holens took the challenge to save what was interesting and to toss what was no longer useful. They, too, were customers of many years and share the memories of good times past in the grocery aisles of the large cement block building. Most everyone in the community with a family can recall pushing the grocery carts with at least one small child inside, or walking alongside, “helping” their parent shop.
