Published: April 06, 2006 10:18 am         

Saying goodbye to the Star

It came without notice.

Who in Tuttle could have resisted going back one more time?

Feeling the cool breeze on your face as the door opened, walking across the cool concrete to the ancient counter.

Leaning on it and skimming over the menu, even though you know what you want. Making the selection. Cookie dough malt. Chocolate shake. Cherry ice. Salty Frog. Maybe even a glass of milk.

Sign the ticket. Don’t even tell them the name for your tab. They know.

Slide into a booth and relax with your treat. Watch the T.V., look at the funny signs on the walls, and check out some of the antiques scattered about.

On top of that, the pleasure of seeing old friends. Jim and Ann, and Theresa and Janie. They served the Tuttle community for years, always with a smile and always with a friendly wave hello. From prescriptions to shakes and the mysterious Salty Frog, they served the community’s needs tirelessly.

But all of that changed Monday, when the Star Pharmacy closed its doors after decades of service. We’d all heard they were having trouble, and looking for a new owner, but did we ever really think it would come to this?

I wish I could go back to Friday one more time, and take my children with me to the pharmacy. I’d like to hear Jim’s booming voice greet me hello from back at his pharmacy counter. I’d like to get them ice cream cones, and a cherry ice for myself. I’d like to sign the ticket, and sit with them, and tell them my memories of the pharmacy. If only we had known.

Incidentally, if you’ve never heard of a Salty Frog, it’s a mixture of ice, lime and salt that was being sold at the Star Pharmacy even before Jim and Ann Arganbright bought it in 1966. Jim said they’d never heard of such a thing until they came to Tuttle. People either loved them or hated them.

Jim said he never really saw the attraction, and wondered why so many people punished themselves by eating them over the years.

I never had one. It sounded nasty to me as a kid, and I never ended up taking the plunge as an adult. Now I wonder what I missed. I’ll never know.

Thank you, Jim and Ann, Theresa, Janie and Kay for the decades of service to me, my family and the entire Tuttle community.

I only wish I could have gone back one more time.