When the Past and Present Meld

Walking the dogs with David Duarte is an exercise steeped in history. We simply cannot go by a house or building without David’s filling us in on what has gone before. 

I say “us” because our Shar-peis listen attentively and understand every word; we are both convinced of this fact. For instance, Emma goes to David at 6 am and wakes him up to prepare the Shar-peis’ breakfast. She simply sits by the side of the bed and stares at him until he opens his eyes. At 4 pm she barks to remind him it’s time for dinner. Around 5 pm, Emma comes up to my office to remind me it’s time to walk. I don’t always feel like walking, but Emma often spurs me on to get into gear and head out on our late-afternoon adventure. 

Each of our three Sharpies has a job: Emma is on schedule watch and sees that the house is run in an orderly fashion; John Rambo is the sentinel, his job is to keep us safe from unwanted intruders and Blaze is the grande dame who keeps  her charges from getting too rowdy or disruptive. She keeps a somber eye on the humans in the family as well. Maybe we should have named her Mother Superior.

It happened one day that we were making our way down Church St. to Main Street in Vineyard Haven. At the corner with Main, we stood between the Off Main store on the left and Rainy Day to our right.

Pointing to Off Main, David said, “The original Cronig’s market was located there when I was a kid," [David was born in 1941 so this would be during the 40s and early 50s.] He continued, "They’d deliver groceries to your house.  There was a 5&10 cent store right across the street where the Green Room now stands. They sold the best Spanish peanuts. I remember they served them up warm, heated from the lightbulb inside the glass display case. When the woman went to scoop up the peanuts, I always told her, ‘Get me the ones closest to the light.’  

"And where Leslie’s Drugstore now stands?  Well, it was LeBeau’s Drugstore. Frank Leslie, Sr. bought it from Ines LeBeau in 1947.  Mrs. LeBeau had a son named Eddie.  She had some chronic skin condition on her legs. You always saw Mrs. LeBeau walking around with newspaper wrapped around her legs. On the second floor above LeBeau’s was the Lanes Block Hotel.” 

Later, I spoke with Judy Nichols who remembers Mrs. LeBeau and her odd leg bandages as well.  It so happened that we ran into Leslie Leeland on this walk who told us about Frank Sr. opening the first Leslie’s which was then passed on to Frank Jr. followed by proprietor Leslie Leeland who sold the drugstore to present owner, Warren Homberg. And the beat goes on …