January 25, 2007

MARICOPA - The landmark Maricopa Mercantile sign came down Jan. 11 after decades atop one of the oldest buildings in the city. The Mercantile has been around since sometime in the 1930s and owned by the Baldock family for more than 50 years. The Baldocks were there to retrieve the sign, on a day that was sad for them.

The family, and many others who have lived in Maricopa for years, hate to see the old building go. It will soon be torn down to widen Honeycutt Road and ease traffic conditions. Jay, 90, and Golden Baldock, 88, who ran the store for 30 years beginning in 1952, know that things are changing but they would like the new residents to know what their store meant to Maricopa.

And it meant a lot.

The store went through many additions and remodelings over the years, growing from a tiny place to a good-sized building in its heyday. Now it sits, showing its age at the northeast corner of Honeycutt Road and Arizona 347, awaiting its final day on Maricopa's main drag.

The Baldocks didn't just run a country store. They were, in essence, the local bankers, holding funds for farmworkers and lease money for their American Indian neighbors. They extended credit to both the local farmers and their workers until the end of the season, through the lean periods.

Local resident Sarah Ashby was one of their clerks for years, beginning back in the 1950s.

"They were very good people to work for. They were always good to me," she recalls.

She recounted a time when she came in late after delivering her twin daughters to school and a salesman made a comment to Jay, "Is she always late like that?" Baldock answered him, "No, not always. But I don't care what time she gets here because she always comes in."

It was that kind of caring that made Ashby love her job and employers. She eventually got a job with the post office, which she couldn't turn down, but continued to fill in when the Baldocks needed her.

There were a group of farmers that made up the Maricopa community back then, the names of whom will be familiar if you've driven Maricopa at all: Johnson, Honeycutt, Rust, Smith, Dunn, Ashby, Farrell, Chapham, Connor, Cold, Peters, Nall, Anderson, Ralston and Hogenes. They all did business at the Mercantile.

In fact, Jay recalls a day when community leader Oliver Anderson's mother stopped in to ask the Baldocks to set up an account for her son and to "take very good care of my boy."

And it was Golden's brother, Edward Farrell Sr., who pushed his sister and brother-in-law to come to Maricopa when the little Mercantile came up for sale. The two families went in on the purchase together and in 1962, Golden and Jay bought out Edward.

"It was very primitive when we first came here," Jay remembers.

Fall was their biggest season because it was cotton harvest time and the pickers would buy all their supplies there. They also did a big business with both of the Indian communities, Ak-Chin and Gila River.

"We had wonderful customers. They weren't just customers, they were our friends," Golden reminisced.

The two became very active in what was then a fledging organization, Associated Grocers of Arizona Inc., a co-op that allowed small grocers like the Baldocks to take advantage of bulk prices and be competitive with the chain stores. Jay served on the board for several years.

The family tells stories of some of their specialties. People would come all the way from Phoenix for their bologna, although Jay confesses it was just the same old Bar S brand they could get in town.

"They swore it tasted better from our store," Jay says.

One day at a convention they came upon one item they weren't sure of, but thought they might give a try - a deep fryer for chicken. The couple talked the salesman into letting them lease it to make sure they could make a go of selling fried chicken in the store.

"That first year, we sold $20,000 of fried chicken," Jay said with a smile.

Golden piped up, "Well, of course, we bought the fryer then."

The Baldocks were instrumental in many other ways to the community. Jay, along with John Smith and Al Hogenes, started Maricopa Community Church, which stands across the street from the current post office. They also helped organize Stagecoach Days, which was to raise money for the community pool, now part of Rotary Park. Swim teams, that trained in that little pool went on to win championships all over Arizona, according to Jay.

Son Bobby Baldock, who is now 71, went on to become a U.S. Circuit Court judge and daughter Paula retired from the postal service. Paula and her husband, Jim Kellogg, also ran the store for 20 years.

Golden still chides her husband for making her retire all those years ago. She wasn't ready to give it up.

"It was a wonderful 30 years," she recalls fondly. But the couple has since traveled the world - Canada, Mexico, Europe, Asia, South America and most of the United States.

Although it's been a wonderful life for them post-Mercantile, it's easy to see that their hearts are still there inside the store where so many memories reside.