Haunted Musings

I've noted earlier on this site that although the Prange Store that was located a good stone's throw from the Woodiel house, it was the Schwab Store located in what had to be considered the most central site of the activities of Bluff dwellers during the decades immediately following World War II.  While my earliest childhood memories of the Prange establishment are vague, those of the Schwab Store remain vivid.  

Though it has been officially closed since the mid-eighties, it has been remodeled and preserved and continually utilized by Vicki (Schwab) and Darrell Gardner. During my visit there in early March I found it haunted with memories.

As we sat around a long table near a centrally-located authentic pot-belly stove working our way through photo albums filled with historical images of the early days of the store and its proprietors Thelma and Eddie Schwab that included an extensive collection of the picnic gathering commemorating the closing of the store.

Homer Starks and Eddie Schwab

Grace Marrs, Thelma Schwab and ?

DPW Darrell Gardner and Maureen Woodiel Shireman

The well-worn anvil of Sebastian Schwab

Darell Gardner and DPW

Eddie and Thelma in courting days?

DPW and Vickie Schwab Gardner

Vickie Schwab Gardner and her father in the store's peak years.

Picture of the Mary Woods No. 2 in Schwab's Store.

Front Door of Schwab's Store