Paul Ponders: A Fair Share of Groceries and Memories

About a week ago, I saw a headline from The Wednesday Journal about the closing of Fair Share Finer Foods, a grocery store in southern Oak Park.

I was saddened to hear this news, as I recalled so many wonderful memories of shopping there.

My Mom's family shopped at that store when it was called National, before it became Fair Share in the 1970s.

It seemed fitting that since my parents settled on a house in southern Oak Park that we would end up shopping there in keeping with a kind of family tradition.

When I was growing up, my Mom would typically do her grocery shopping at Fair Share on Mondays, to get stocked up for the week ahead.

Whenever I was off school on Monday, I eagerly joined her. There was something so delightful about going grocery shopping. Maybe it was something about the idea of being surrounded by food, and being able to pick it off the shelf and have it bought. Maybe it was something about helping out my Mom in a way that seemed straightforward. Maybe it was something about spending time with Mom. Whatever it was, I looked forward to heading over to Fair Share.

After parking in the lot, Mom would grab a cart, and then she'd go through her list. She'd ask me to get certain items while she shopped for others. I became particularly helpful in retrieving items while Mom waited at the deli for our latest batch of deli meats, which would often be the substance of my lunches for the first part of the week. As I walked the aisles, I enjoyed following the beat of the mall-style music that was playing, or festive Christmas-style music during December. Sometimes, I would end at Fair Share to help Mom shop on the Eve of the Lord's Nativity.

One thing I got really good at was when Mom told me to get about a pound of ground beef, and I learned that meant to get about a pound of ground sirloin. Usually that was the basis for cooking hamburgers at some point during the week.

I also enjoyed the warmth of the El Milagro corn tortilla packages, which surely had been freshly delivered.

For many years, Fair Share had a store brand called Country's Delight, which became Centrella, probably sometime when I was a teenager.

From time to time, I enjoyed picking out a special treat, like a store-brand fruit punch soda to celebrate the end of another school year.

One year, Fair Share offered a deal of a free turkey if a customer presented receipts totaling $400 in purchases over a specified amount of time. Mom and Aunt June put their receipts together and we were able to get a free turkey for our family's Thanskgiving Dinner. I'm pretty certain it was a Norbest brand turkey. My Great Aunt June shopped there, and from time to time, when Mom and I were there, we'd see Aunt June shopping.

And then there was the staff at the check-out lanes. Fanina, Rosa, and Peggy are the ladies in particular I fondly think of at the check-out lanes, who have been there for a while, and we would readily recognize each other when I went to check-out.

As a small aside, once Mom and I loaded up the groceries, we would pull out onto Highland Avenue to head home, and I would point a house that had a front staircase with a very distinct purple color.

Fair Share is certainly an established institution in southern Oak Park. I heard other students talk about the offerings at Fair Share when I was at Irving.

There were the usual grocery items there, along with European and Mexican specialties.

And for many years after September 11, 2001, a US flag was hung near the entrance, with a sign there stating it was hung there in honor of those who died serving the US.

Yes, the news of Fair Share's closing brought back memories and summoned forth wistful feelings. I realize that I haven't shopped at Fair Share as often in the years since I graduated from ValpU because of shifting life circumstances, and that makes me part of the shifting marketing forces that led its owners to close the store. I'm sad to think that I could have done more to support a wonderful local business. It's a story oft repeated in Oak Park with other local businesses facing challenging circumstances in the business environment here, and I realize I could do more to keep supporting those businesses I enjoy that still persist.

Yet in the midst of the news about Fair Share, I'm comforted in knowing that there were times I took advantage of its close location, reasonable prices, and good offerings to head over there and get myself a handful of groceries, especially those times when on my own for dinner.

In fact, last month, I was with my parents after we went out for dinner together. As we drove along Roosevelt Road, and passed Fair Share, I decided to impulsively stop there to get some items I had been unable to find at another store. One of those items was Angel Food Cake that I served to my students just over a week later. When I mentioned it was from Fair Share, I saw a couple of the students react with acknowledgment.

When I encountered the news report, I made it my business to head over to Fair Share at the first opportunity I had to get some groceries for old time's sake, right after work on Saturday, February 15. I bought a few items that seemed interesting, like frozen Goya-brand plantain products--and all frozen products, excluding ice cream, were 15% off without refunds or rain checks. I also got some practical items like cereal, and do I ever have memories of gazing over an aisle full of various cereals, including variations on the basics like Cheerios, including Fruity and Chocolate Cheerios. I also got some turkey lunchmeat from the deli so I could make sandwiches just like in old times. And I felt the warmth of a package of El Milagro corn tortillas.

I was back there the next day, Sunday, and among some other items I bought were some packages of fruit-flavored teas. I'll always remember how Fair Share had a great selection of fruit-flavored tea packages. I was glad that while there I was able to reconnect with Fanina and Peggy, as well as to thank them for their service.

Fair Share closes on February 23, and I will be sure to smile as I give thanks for the memories I have of Fair Share. Perhaps I'll reinvoke them whenever I'm on the Southwest Side of Chicago and shop at the other Fair Share that will remain open.

While Fair Share is a business that we spend money at because it has products we use, it has ultimately been more than a business because of the human element which has given it so much meaning, especially for me as I grew up.

Thanks to all the wonderful staff of Fair Share for giving me a Fair Share of memories in grocery shopping at your store.