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Former market, dance studio, mechanics shop razed
A: Main, news
February 19, 2025
Former market, dance studio, mechanics shop razed
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR

A cinderblock building in the 200 block of E Street, between Belt and Broadway, stood for 77 years a few hundred yards from the shore of the cove on Lake Eufaula.

For the first 25 years or so it was Ernie’s Grocery and Market, where customers would buy a cola from the old-fashioned chest Coke machine and stand around and talk.

Or baloney and bread for a picnic.

Or meat from its wellknown meat market.

For the next 50 years or so, it was a dance studio, or carpet cleaning business, or mechanic’s shop where antique cars were brought back to life.

The building is part of the memory of Eufaula.

On Tuesday, Feb. 4, the old building came down, to make room for a garage.

Owner Linda Johnson, whose house is at 222 E Street on the same lot as the building, was sad to see the building go but knew it was time for the old structure to be taken down.

Ernie Hrdlicka and his wife Roberta built Ernie’s Store and Market in 1948.

Their grandson, Mark Warren, who lives in Tulsa attended the razing of his grandfather’s former neighborhood market when it was taken down on Feb. 4.

“I remember it being a focal point of the community,” he said. “They had a coke machine, an old chest, and people would stand around and visit and have a Coke. They had a meat counter and were very particular about the cleanliness. People would come to shop there all the time. There was always a string of cars there all the time. It was a focal point of the community back in the day.”

The Hrdlicka family originated in Czechoslovakia.

“His grandfather came from Czechoslovakia. Ernie and Roberta came from Minnesota and Nebraska and wound up in Luther. I don’t know why, probably because it was close to Oklahoma City.”

The couple moved to Eufaula in 1938. Ernie worked for M&P stores. Eventually the couple moved Okmulgee and then to Luther, near Oklahoma City, but returned to Eufaula in 1948 and built the store before construction on the Eufaula Dam began in 1956.

The location was ideal for a store.

“Business boomed. Everyone coming to the lake would stop and buy baloney and bread to picnic on,” Warren 11-28 IJ.qxp_IJ/DEMO TEMPLATE 11/25/19 3:29 PM Page 23 said.

When Ernie retired, he eventually sold the site and started a second career, renting six fishing cabins at Longtown.

“He did that for 20 years,” Warren said.

Whole Hawg Days on the horizon
A: Main, news
Whole Hawg Days on the horizon
July 16, 2025
Get ready for another fun-filled weekend as the 41st Annual Whole Hawg Arts & Crafts Festival prepares to get underway, Friday and Saturday, July 25-26. The festival will consist of Arts & Crafts, a r...
A: Main, news
Eufaula Chamber of Commerce Rodeo debuts
July 16, 2025
The rodeo is woven into the fabric of Eufaula history. Long before the annual rodeo was held at the fairgrounds, there were rodeos in an area of the city now a part of the cove where there are softbal...
A: Main, news
Check with the City before starting work
July 16, 2025
As more residents and property owners take on home improvement projects, the City of Eufaula is reminding the public of a key first step: check with the City before you begin. Whether you   are buildi...
Eufaula hires full-time fire chief
A: Main, news
Eufaula hires full-time fire chief
By JERRY FINK MANAGING EDITOR 
July 16, 2025
Eufaula didn’t have to look far for its first full-time fire chief. Checotah Fire Chief Greg Carmack has been offered the job, replacing volunteer Fire Chief Chad French. The decision to hire someone ...
Checotah says goodbye to cowboy legend Bill Duvall
A: Main, news
Checotah says goodbye to cowboy legend Bill Duvall
By LaDonna Rhodes Staff Writer 
July 16, 2025
When Bill Duvall was called to meet His Maker in the Great Round Up in the sky this past Sunday, Checotah lost one of its best storytellers and legendary cowboys ever. Thankfully his legacy will live ...
A: Main, news
Hats off to those credited with keeping the roundup club and rodeo alive
By Current Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors 
July 16, 2025
Serena Kleveter, director Jay Hunn, president Zach McQuay Roxanne Loyd Kathy Turner Jeanette Smith Torie Anderson Peter Lee 1940-50 Doc Thurman Doc Gawf Dub Hammett 1960-70 Glen Pittman Fred Wendel Ho...
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Editor Picks
A: Main, news
Commissioners pass moratorium
July 16, 2025
TransAlta of Canada announced six months ago that it no longer planned to develop a wind turbine farm in McIntosh County. However, county commissioners wanted to make sure TransAlta or any other wind ...
news
Auditions for The Dancing Princesses open to all
July 16, 2025
If you’ve ever thought acting on stage might be fun, here’s your chance to find out. The Eufaula Performing and Arts Club is opening auditions for their next play to any would-be actor ages 10 and up....
news
McIntosh County GOP News
By LYNELLE MEDLEY CHAIRMAN 
July 16, 2025
Our potluck at the last meeting was so much fun and we had a fabulous turnout -- thank you to all of McIntosh County for supporting the Republican Party. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. It w...
news
Man facing obscenity charges
July 16, 2025
Ryan Troy Dick, 52-year-old Sallisaw resident, is being held in the McIntosh County Jail pending his preliminary hearing on charges related to indecent photographs and videos sent to a former girlfrie...
news
Juvenile dies following accident near Longtown
July 16, 2025
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reports that a juvenile, whose name and age are being withheld, was fatally injured in a single-vehicle accident that took place at about 10:30 p.m. on July 4. The deceased...
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