Today I continue my quest in creating and posting one block a day of the fabulous That Town And Country Quilt by the lovely Susan-Claire Mayfield. This is day two hundred and sixty-three of that project.

This quilt block shows a very orange building with an orange roof and a light orange glass door (shaded with white pen). The sign above the double doors is red with a white and black border. It reads, "Gambles" in white pen in bold letters across it. All the fabric pieces are outlined by an orange and black stitching. — Click To Enlarge

The GAMBLES store in Granby has been in business since 1952.

This year it sold, and the name is no longer Gambles.

Gambles was a staple in my life. We could most likely get anything we needed when I was growing up at Gambles.

At that time, Sam Childress owned and operated Gambles. He was on the floor every day. Customer service was #1 for Sam. In fact, I have thought of him often as I have tried to have the level of customer service he had.

Sam was a great guy; I went to school with his son, Gary, and we were born two days apart. I got my first bicycle from Sam and all the appliances in my childhood kitchen.

When I was a very broke newly-married, I bought a television and a table and chairs on layaway. You cannot imagine what all was in that store! Sam retired and sold the store to a man that I think was named Mr. DeForest. I’m not positive because I was gone for a little while then.

When he sold it, Casey Farrell bought it and was a super store owner, and he mainly dealt with appliances, and again customer service was king. He would deliver your machine, hook it up, and remove your old one. I have been friends with Casey and his wife, Rhonda, for a long time.

Then on June 4, 2004, a wingnut named Marvin Heemeyer came down the main street in Granby in an armored bulldozer, demolishing buildings as he went. A political dispute was at the root of this rampage, and because Casey was part of our town government, Gambles was one of his targets.

That dozer drove through a bank and the newspaper building before moving straight into the Gambles store. That’s where his journey ended because he hadn’t figured on a partial basement. The bulldozer dropped in and stuck there.

He couldn’t get out. He died that day of a self-inflicted gunshot. It was quite some time before Casey could rebuild Gambles, but he did and served Grand County for several more years.

I’m sure the new owner will do just fine as an appliance store owner, but for me, it’s the end of an era.