No Strangers Here
story by Adriana Funke
At first glance, J.R.’s Market is a little slice of country life. Soda. Canned goods. Nails. Animal feed. To the people of Utica, it is more than a convenience store.
Marriam Bell is the soul of the store; the customers, its heart. This is where the lives of families intersect. Children learn to walk across the wooden floors. Lifelong friends play jokes on each other at the back table. Friends become family.
Everyone who comes into J.R.’s Market is welcomed with a “How’re you doin’ today?” and a “Get yourself somethin’ to eat.” There are no strangers in Utica – only new faces to remember.
Kim Bell has worked at J.R.’s for 15 years. The store was a large part of her daughters’ childhood. “This store raised me,” her daughter Brittany says.
Anthony McClure arrives at J.R.’s at 4:30 each morning just after it opens. He orders his usual and works the newspaper crossword puzzle.
The farmers congregate at the back of the store to discuss their crops. When to start harvesting? How much rain fell yesterday?
The bell above the door at J.R.’s Market rings as Roy Humphrey enters. A chorus of “here comes trouble” greets him as he makes his way to a table to wait on his breakfast.
Gene Wink comes into the store like clockwork every day for breakfast and lunch and to cut-up with his friends.
Marriam is the “something special” that has kept J.R.’s Market alive and well for the last 36 years. “I take care of everyone,” Marriam says. “I guess that’s why they call me Ma Bell.”
Gene Wink (left), Roy Humphrey, Jack Humphrey and Donald Gill eat breakfast at J.R.'s Market before they begin their day. Donald carves a "hoo-doo" stick, whose propeller purportedly changes directions upon command.
Marriam Bell's daughter-in-law, Kim Bell, fixes a floor mat before the lunchtime rush hour begins. Kim has covered Marriam's hours at J.R.'s Market since she broke her hip in June. Marriam, more mobile since hip surgery, is able to work at the store a few hours daily.
While Byron Thompson picks up a lunch order for his brothers who are harvesting, Anna Price asks him to take care of a snake problem at her home behind J.R.'s Market. The Thompsons own much of the land in and around Utica, including J.R.'s Market.
The Bells' family photos line the shelf near the entrance of J.R.’s Market. Marriam Bell, the manager, has worked at J.R.’s for 36 years. Her daughter-in-law, Kim Bell, has worked there 15 years.
Generations of families have kept accounts with J.R.’s Market. They can put purchases on their running tab to be paid off later. Ma Bell keeps the accounts in a metal receipt holder.
Marriam Bell, known as "Ma Bell" to J.R.'s Market customers, walks from the store to her home across the street after the work day. She has seen five generations of Utica families through her years as an employee and manager of J.R.'s Market. "Except for in the last two years (because of surgeries), I think I missed two days (of work) out of 36 years," Ma Bell says.