Paul Richardson: A gathering of influence

I have a lunch engagement today. That seems to happen often with people, but you normally hear more about the gatherings when the girls plan and execute one. Well, guys do it, too. Sometimes it is the morning coffee drinkers club where the area in the local café is marked with a sign that reads, “Local liars gather here”. We like to demean ourselves with labels like that.

A couple years ago, I started stopping by a business owned by an old acquaintance of mine. His brother would join him for lunch and on occasion I would just be there, hanging around. Then one day knowing that I would be arriving about the time that they usually ate, I checked to see if the meal plans were already in place. 

Discovering that nothing had been preplanned for that day, an order for pizza was placed for delivery at the right time. Following that, my attendance at lunch began to happen frequently.

As garden ripe tomatoes came on, a comparison of likes and dislikes revealed that everyone present was in for sandwiches that would incorporate the tomatoes, the essential Miracle Whip, liverwurst, onion, sharp cheddar, and white bread. Nothing fancy, the basic sandwich with a component that is not in everyone’s wheel house. 

During my formative years, liverwurst was a lunchmeat that I could consume, but not my favorite. It was, however, a favorite of my dad and my sister. Probably an acquired taste, one that has developed in me over time.

I recall my family’s weekly trips to town on Friday evening when my dear mother would make all of her regular food purchases. There were certain essentials that were always on the list and these required visits to some particular markets. 

If my memory serves me correctly, there was Berry’s Market near the intersection of Coler and College Streets and, of course, Fuller’s Market, there was a market on Park Street at the intersection of Park Street and Hearrell Avenue. Sherman Street hosted a market, just east of the intersection of Sherman and High. 

A market that was more upscale was located at the corner of Coler and High Street. Another market that supported very high traffic was at the corner of Baxter Street and North Lincoln Street. An intersection where North Lincoln Street ends and North Main Avenue begins, just a fun fact there.

These lunch dates bring back lots of memories, as you can imagine. Since a couple of the other lunch attendees are at or near my age, these are paths that we have walked together and can recall together. That can be good, that can be problematic. 

The above paragraph may be full of holes, memory holes that is. I may have a name wrong, or it could be because I didn’t attach names to some of the markets. That is simply because I can’t remember the name that was on that market at that time. But whatever the results of today, it is certainly a gathering of influence, good or bad influence remains to be seen!