By Per Peterson
Grocery guru Bruce Schelhaas has always had his children by his side — from his start in the industry in Ruthton, to his work in Balaton, to purchasing a grocery store in downtown Tracy, to moving out to Food Pride’s current location on Morgan Street, just off Hwy. 14.
Last Tuesday, his children were at his side again, only this time they weren’t stocking shelves — they were fighting back flood waters.
The Schelhaas family made up about half of the contingent who worked diligently either all or part of the day Tuesday to protect the town’s only grocery store. And protect it they did.
“Everyone says you can count on family, for sure; it’s just amazing — they were here about 9 in the morning from Brandon to start cleaning up,” Schelhaas said. “That was really, really nice. You know, we’ve helped the kids out a lot along the way, so when we needed help they were right here for us. They picked up the slack big-time.”
The annex made up of Lewis Family Drug, Food Pride, Casey’s and Subway was one of the hardest hit areas in last week’s flood. The businesses remained open through the flood, but that’s relative. Food Pride’s parking lot was transformed into a body of water for most of the day Tuesday. An ominous sign that there would be no shopping there came early when a Sara Lee delivery truck nearly tipped over when its driver missed the entrance point to the parking lot.
For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.