On this day in history, Oct. 2, 1948, the talk of the town was about the Westminster Co-op moving to a larger location at 8 Locust St.
A newspaper clipping from Oct. 1, 1948 reads, "New Co-Op Store A Credit To City. Located Opposite Parking Grounds - Committees Assisting Manager For Official Opening Oct. 7th."
For those not old enough to remember, the Westminster Co-op was a food cooperative that was originally formed in Taneytown by 18 local families in 1937.
A quick glance at "A History of Westminster Consumer Co-op, 1937-1987, written by frequent Carroll Eagle contributor Phil Grout, reveals that the list of families and organizations involved with making the co-op a reality reads like a who's who activists of that era in Carroll County.
Family names such as Rinehart, Stem, Hull, Chandler, Garner, Essich, Duvall, Ensor, Beard, Roop, Shroyer, Berthoff, Williar, Ridington, Rickle Jenkins, Bixler, Barnett and Wright (my own family — for the sake of disclosure), sprinkle the pages of the comprehensive history by Grout.
Also noted are organizations and institutions such as the Westminster Theological Seminary, Western Maryland College, Medford Grange, Carroll County Farm Bureau Church of the Brethren, Fellowship for Reconciliation, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and B.F. Shriver.
Of course, this was in the day long before Route 140 was built. In those days, there were convenient, locally-owned grocery stores in the neighborhoods throughout town.
Yes, this was also long before progress and zoning came to our community; back in the day when you could walk with your family to the store.
According to a 1952 phone book in my own history files, downtown Westminster grocery stores included: the Acme, located at 1 E. Main St.; A&P, at 14 W. Main St.; East End Market, 223 E. Main St.; Hahn Bros., 273 E. Main St.; Lefteris Food Market, 50 W. Main St.; Myers Grocery Store, 154 W. Main St.; Wm. F. Myers and Sons, Liberty and Green streets; and Neudecker & Sharrer, 119 Pennsylvania Ave.
Over the years, before and after 1948, the co-op was located at several locations in Westminster. On Aug. 30, 1959, it moved to the new Westminster Shopping Center.
We were all quite sad when it was announced in June 2003 that the store was closing. To this day many of us still cannot find some of the products sold at the co-op, and we certainly cannot find the family-oriented customer service that was the hallmark of the store.
If you have pictures or memories of the Westminster Co-op, or another favorite downtown Westminster business, please e-mail me at kevindayhoff@gmail.com. (Please put "Co-op" in the subject line.)
I hope to revisit the grocery stores of the past, at least in memory, and I'll be certain to return to Phil's history of the co-op in future columns.
When he is not lost in the memory aisle of the Westminster Co-op, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at kevindayhoff@gmail.com