GAS PRICES: Despite how much lower gas prices have been in our area recently, resident Joe Patagonia was quite surprised to see how low they were in New Jersey on Sunday.
He paid $2.35 a gallon for regular gasoline at a full service Shell gas station late Sunday night in New Jersey.
“The thing is, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Joe said, recalling what he thought when he saw the prices.
He noted that at the same time in Salamanca, N.Y., gas was sold for only about 5 cents a gallon less than it was being sold for in Bradford.
While the gas prices were nice in New Jersey, Joe wouldn’t trade it for Bradford. He said he “doesn’t mind the low gas prices, but I’m not paying New Jersey taxes.”
He added that gas prices in Manhattan, N.Y., at the time of his trip were still about 10 cents a gallon more than Bradford.
MORE STORES: James Randolph of Bradford had a couple more former stores that used to be in Bradford to add the ones we’ve been talking about.
“There were so many grocery stores back then,” James told us.
First, he remembers John Mold’s grocery store on the corner of Barbour and Center streets.
There was Redman’s, which was on West Washington Street about where Little Caesars Pizza is right now.
Next door, around the spot Family Video is located now, there was a grocery store owned by Steve Kan, who James recalled had a wooden hand. This would have been around the 1930s.
“I can remember him making ice cream cones for us kids,” said James. He explained Steve would hold the cone with his fake hand and scoop with his good hand.
Redman’s Hall had two big wooden statues of Native Americans that stood about eight or nine feet tall, he tells us. Bingo games were held in the hall, and James believes dances were held there, too.
Across the street from the Zippo offices on Barbour Street was Frank Deluca’s grocery store, which was open in the 1930s and 1940s.
Deluca’s was right across the street from a blacksmith shop. James has fond memories of watching the blacksmith work.
He lived on Railroad Street at the time. “We’d go down four days of the week and watch him shoe horses.”
