I am making my daily trip to Gross’ Store in Bernardo on a hot summer afternoon. I usually walked, although I had my bike before I could ride that bike. My 10-minute walk up a country road in the summer heat was well worth the prize that waited for me at the store.
There were two stores in Bernardo back in the 60s. One was the Bernardo Store in downtown Bernardo called H&S, which was too far to walk or ride a bike. That store was reserved for dad when he would get off work in the afternoons. He would sit on a long wooden bench inside, have a couple of cold ones, swap stories, and solve the world’s problems. Sometimes, on Saturdays, I would go with him to get me a soda. There was a soda named Pomac. I researched it and found it was a limited bottling from Dr. Pepper and it looked like beer. It even foamed like beer. So I pretended I was a grown-up.
My favorite time was when I took my trips to Gross’ Store and got a cold RC and a Moon Pie. I am talking about a big bottle of RC and a chocolate Moon Pie you could make a meal of. Not the little snacky things they have now. If I timed it right, I would have that ice-cold RC guzzled down and the last crumbs of my Moon Pie down the hatch right before I made it home. That way, I didn’t have to share it with my sister.
One of the most vivid memories of my foray to Gross’s Store was watching Mr. Gross smoke his big cigar. He also dipped snuff, but I don’t remember if he did both or if he switched to snuff later. He may have changed to snuff later because he had a bad habit that could have left a big hole in the ground where the store used to be. He would come out to pump gas for people, and he would come out with his lit cigar and sit it up on the gas pumps as he pumped the gas. Even at my age, I knew how flammable gas was because I used an oil squirt can full of gas to neutralize my toy plastic soldiers. I had a great flame thrower. But, hey, it was war!
Gone is Gross’ Store. Gone is the hot afternoon stroll to get my RC. Gone is the old H&S (now Bernardo Store and run by the kids) and gone is the sweet innocence of life. But there is still Pilsners Place! And that is another story all together!
Ecclesiastes 3:1 - “To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven…”
