Several months ago, the Gorham Times was contacted by an anonymous reader who asked for our help in tracking down the owners of Greenwood’s, a mini-mart style roadside business that was in operation in the early 1950s. The reader recounted stealing a small tourist decal from the front of the store as a young child, over 65 years ago, and the guilt he has felt ever since.
“One day, I was on my way out the door with my purchase and next to the door was a wire rack holding Maine tourism decals…they were attractive and probably cost less than a dollar. I reached up and stole one. I have no recollection that I ever stole another thing, yet it bothers me to this day.”
Adjusting for the “cost of living,” the reader included $50 and an accompanying letter of apology hoping the Gorham Times could help return the money to its rightful owners.
With the help of Wilma Gould Johnson, who contributes to our Remember When series, we learned that the store was in fact called Greenwood’s and was located on the right side of Main Street where Aroma Joe’s and Subway stand today.
Photo credit Alaire Bridges RiddleGreenwood’s circa 1950
The Greenwood family, Railton and Barbara and their three children, lived in a large house next to the store. Johnson shared that for those who grew up in Gorham, the name Jim Greenwood is very familiar as he was the youngest child and confined to a wheelchair for most of his life. He was well known to many townspeople.
The Greenwoods eventually sold the store to Lawrence and Helen Mason and along with their son, Norman, they ran the same type of business that the Greenwoods had, but changed the name of the store to Mason’s.
The left side of the store was mostly groceries and general merchandise and to the right side there was a lunch counter and two sections of booths. Italian sandwiches, or hoagies, which were the specialty of the house, were considered to be the best in the area.
The anonymous letter concludes, “Bless you, your store, the hoagies. Thank you for the inadvertent lesson you taught me. It taught me well, saved my character, and let me know early on that in terms of good and evil, I wanted to be on the good side.”
Unfortunately, all members of the Greenwood family are deceased. As a means to pay it forward, the Gorham Times will use the money intended for the Greenwoods toward a scholarship fund which benefits a local high school senior.