Co-op wasn’t the buildings, it was the people in them

Dear Editor:

I was driving to town last week when a Co-op ad played on the radio. A holiday message from “your Big Horn Co-op.” It was bittersweet. I started thinking about the many years we have been loyal Co-op customers. 

Unlike the corporate businesses, the Co-op was a reflection of “us,” the locals, the people of the Basin. It was where you bought hanging baskets and irrigation boots when spring finally arrived. Where you picked up bug spray on your way to go fishing, or a new horse halter for fair. They had hunting license and ammo in the fall and the world biggest stocking at Christmas.

The Co-op has been more than just a store. It was the place to catch up with neighbors, discuss the local high school teams and the price of hay; probably complain about the weather. It’s a loss will put a hardship on everyone, but especially the local ag community. Those things that you need “right now” will be at least an hour away.

It sounded like the Co-op closed its doors without even an employee appreciation day. I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks. Thank you to the many people who have worked at the Co-op; you helped to make our lives better. Shopping there was like being among friends.

I’d like to say thank you to the ones behind the counters for all those years. Thanks for knowing our names, for asking about our kids and animals. Thanks for looking us in the eye when you checked us out and for not making us stand in line like we were sheep in a loading chute. 

“Thanks for letting us put up posters on the bulletin board where everyone could see them. Posters about our local life, everything from a new horse shoer or garage sale to the annual veterans’ dinner.

Thanks for donating when our local organizations came asking. You didn’t just donate to the cause; you attended it. From pig wrestling to a 4-H Cookie Jar Auction, your familiar faces were there.

Thanks for helping us find the right feed for our livestock or aging dog, for all your patience and kindness, for doing your best to help us when we really didn’t even remember the size of the part we came for. 

“Thanks to all of you who filled our propane tanks at 20 below and those who loaded a million pounds of dog food, potting soil and sheep creep. Thank you to everyone who left things out when we couldn’t get in by closing time.

Your support of the 4-H and FFA kids at the county fair was appreciated. You helped many local kids earn money to further their agricultural or educational goals.

That last day at the Co-op in Greybull reminded me of a wake ... but without the good food and beverages. As people stopped to talk, it was not our usually banter. For 100 years the conservative nature of the co-op has made it through many very difficult challenges, what could have been done differently? What about the members’ yearly dividends? 

 Visiting with friends and neighbors, the sentiment was the same: sadness. We all hate to see it go. Not just because of the jobs we will be losing but because each time another local business closes its doors, we lose a little bit of who “we” are.

They say that the Co-op will still exist, “it is just changing”. I’d say for those of us, here in Greybull and Basin, those are pretty empty words. 

In a world that has become a place where all your needs can be purchased, delivered and paid for without any human contact, the Co-op offered a friendly face, a personal connection. You were not just address for the delivery truck. 

The Co-op wasn’t the buildings; it was the people in them. To all of you who worked there, a summer or a lifetime, thank you. You will be missed.

Pam Flitner

Shell