"Emmet's First Mall"

A very special man named John Conard was born in Inman, Nebraska, on May 28, 1907. Unfortunately his father contracted TB and passed away when John was only one years old. This event forced his mother, Georgie Ana Mary, to return to her hometown of Emmet, Nebraska. To make ends meet financially, his mother was a Practical Nurse. During her career of caring for people; she met and fell in love with Pat McGinnis, son of one of her patient's, and they were married.

Pat was a traveling man as he was a construction foreman on building bridges. Thus began John's travels throughout the United States and Canada at the ripe age of nine years old. All this traveling was taking its toll on John's school life (they had moved 9 times in one year) so he went to live with his Uncle and Aunt in Emmet, Nebraska for one year when he was 14 years old. He worked part-time and with the funds he received from his mom he was able to move out on his own the following year.

Some years have passed now and John has graduated from High School and went through two years of college in Wayne, Nebraska. He decides he is ready to travel the world again. His first destination was Omaha, Nebraska where he took on a job assembling Ford cars. He put on the left front door on roadsters and later switched to making truck platforms. One year later the unappealing realities of life set in and John returns home to Emmet once again. He established a Creamery and Egg Selling business. At this time in history, the cream and eggs were picked up from the farmers' houses. He sold the cream in O'Neill and the eggs were sold and trucked out to their destination. In 1936 John bought the McGinnis Store from his mom and Pat (they had grown weary from their traveling careers and had come back to Emmet to buy and run the family store from Georgie's sister and husband) and incorporated the Creamery and Egg Selling business with the store now named - John Conards' Store. Thus the town of Emmet had their first mall! Fun fact! The store's coolers were originally cooled by blocks of ice cut from the lakes south of Emmet wrapped in straw or hay and trucked in to John's store.

What was next for this established businessman? Emma, a pretty and petite young lady, was the town's school teacher and one day came to town to visit John's Aunt Ethel. They met and the rest is history - she became John's wife. John and Emma had one daughter, Mary Lou. In the hot summers of Nebraska, extended family (John, his wife and daughter plus all the aunts, uncles, etc.) time consisted of gathering at the river about 5:30 pm to go swimming and fishing.

The 1930's brought an interesting era of politics and war. John was given the honor to be the Emmet Post Master which was housed in his store which drove him to want to serve his country. So he signed up for the Army. When he returned from his tour of service he resumed his civilian life as Postmaster, businessman, and family man.

John is a true pioneer of American history as his life intertwines with the town and all the people of the town. Emmet has a population of 80 people tops. John remembered back and laughed when he told me one time the population of Emmet reached 213 people! That was a one time deal when the railroad crew was there, and as chance would have it, a Census was taken that same year!

John had many favorite customers and fondly recalled Lou Goeke. "Lou was a night owl and there were many times he would come and get me out of bed after midnight to get groceries. I never minded as he bought more groceries in that one order than I had sold all day!"

Mary Lou (John's daughter) shared with me the many and unselfish acts of kindness - the true heart of her father for all the people in the town of Emmet. A few of these stories are:

It was the horrendous and paralyzing winter of 1948 or 1949. No one could leave their homes as the snow had covered everything on the ground - including the houses. The Army finally made it to Emmet and cleared and opened all the roads. John knew the needs of all his customers and how long some of them had been without any food at all. He went to work quickly making Staple Packages for everyone with their special needs in mind and traveled in the Weasel (army vehicle) to deliver these packages to everyone personally.

Back in the 1930s, folks did not have phones in their residences. John had a phone at the store and would take messages for them. But he didn't stop there - he personally delivered the message whether they lived in town or out of town.

John was the first business man to let his customers charge their purchases. This was great for the farmers as their crops and livestock were seasonal money makers and they could depend on John's generosity through charging their purchases to literally keep them alive until they received their money. Out of the 40 years John had the store, only one person didn't pay.

John's store was the center of all social events which took place on Saturday nights. In the summer time, John operated the only outdoor movie theater. This was before cars were driven to theaters. Folks came in by horse teams and wagons (as many as 50) and gathered on the ground on a cement slab to watch the movie of the night! He told me during the winter, the men went to the bar and the ladies bought their groceries and visited at the store.

John had a real heart for children. He would buy football outfits for all the children in town who couldn't afford to buy them so they could play. (Fact: John loved and still loves golf, football and baseball!)

One of John's former employee's, Toby Kloppenborg, (yes, she still lives in Emmet) shares the following sentiment about John…

"I worked for John at his Grocery Store/Post Office/Cream and Egg Station Mall starting about 1963. He was the greatest person to work for and with; he taught me many things like:

1. You never sit down on the job-even if it meant washing the frozen food freezer glass over and over. His theory was customers wanted to see you busy rather than lazy.
2. Sunday morning at 7:00 am you turn the coffee pot on to be ready after Church and Mass were over. The store was open with coffee for everyone.
3. If someone needed a helping hand; his was outstretched.
4. If the phone rang, it was John asking "Can you come down? It looks like a great day for golf."

John sold his store after 40 years of business. He moved the Post Master business to another location in Emmet for another four years and retired at the age of 72. As their social life was centered in O'Neill, Nebraska they bought a house and settled there. Emma passed away in October 1978. Mary Lou and her husband Bernard (deceased) have five sons, Tom, Jerry, Todd, Marty and Chris. Mary Lou resides in Atkinson, Nebraska.

At the age of 99, John Conard's last day on Earth was November 9, 2006. His service was a military funeral held in Atkinson, Nebraska on November 13. Two of his grandsons currently serve in the military. Chris is making a career in the National Guard and Tom is in the Coast Guard.

People came from near and far for this last remembrance of the man who was loved by all.

Written & Authored by: Petrina Lance, Seattle, Washington