Cards

In the early 90's, my brothers and I were into sports cards. We all had albums with several pages of players in them. We traded cards with each other, but would often go to the card shops in town to obtain new ones.

One of the two stores in town was on east 3rd Street next to Goltz Pharmacy. The owner's name was Rusty. He was a pretty poor guy. For one thing, he would usually eat canned goods (such as beans) out of the can while working at the store. For another, he didn't always have the heat on during the wintertime (many of the sports cards would start to "fold up" under these conditions). There were rumors that he would open packs of cards, take out the valuable ones, and then reseal and sell them. Overall, though, he was a nice guy and you could usually find a bargain there. He passed on a couple years ago of cancer at the tender age of 48.

The other shop we frequented was the Dugout, also located on east 3rd Street near Merchants National Bank. It was much more upscale than Rusty's. The owner, Dick Drury, always had dozens of different types of boxes in which one could buy cards from. He had his son, James (who was about 13 at the time), work for him at the store. On the wall of the store was an framed autographed picture of James with Twins great Bert Blyleven. Dick Drury passed on a couple years ago as well. He was 65.

www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2003/03/11/obituaries/obits.txt

Dick's old store as well as several other vacant storefronts are heading for the demolition block. The six buildings below will be destroyed in the next few weeks to make room for more parking spaces for Merchants Bank (pictured on the far left).



I guess all I can say now is thanks for the memories, Rusty Dick, I mean, Rusty and Dick.