Daily Herald Column "Lake County Life": Country Corner

Norman Rockwell, one of the most beloved 20th century American painters, devoted his life to documenting snippets of idyllic wholesomeness in American life. He depicted America in ways it had been and how, perhaps, it still wanted to be.

But the America Norman Rockwell drew, replete with small town life, bucolic settings, a place in which sadness was merely pleasant and problems were humorous, didn’t stop eroding just because he drew it. It marched along steadily into an unknown future full of words like ‘downsizing’ and ‘economic upturns’ as we became more ‘spatially-challenged’ while ‘focusing on the big picture’.

In this new America, ‘big box’ stores slowly squeezed out the ‘little guy’ and with him, perhaps a little of our humanity.

Stores like ‘Country Corner – Bait & Tackle’ in Diamond Lake, an unincorporated area of Lake County where John P. Hines, Owner/Fisherman, has owned his little corner of the world for nearly 30 years.

John started out as a store manager for Jewel Food Stores but claims he wasn’t much for suits and sport coats. “This was much slower,” said John who clearly recalls the date he opened his Country Corner on the 30th of November in 1977.

The clientele has changed some over the years but John still knows 80% of his customers by first name.

“It used to be just me and one other store back 15 years ago but that was before the big box stores arrived,” said John.

Back then, it was all groceries and liquor. Now the little corner shop sells 20-25% in fishing bait and tackle, and the rest in alcohol and snacks and tobacco.

“Everyone is looking for a better price and bigger selection, I guess,” said John. But the corner grocer cannot be discounted, even in our big box, disposable new America. Like the old time apothecary, or the country doctor who made house calls, the local grocer was always a fountain of information.

Whether or not he’s cognizant of his legacy, Hines tries to carry on that tradition every day. A fisherman since he was a kid, the element of selling bait and tackle has been a staple of the Country Corner from inception.

“It’s amazing how many grown-ups don’t know how to fish so they can’t teach their kids,” said Hines who, conversely, knows everything from how many sub-species of Muskies there are to the exact procedure for mounting your prized catch. He often advises his customers to ‘catch and release’, and proudly shares in their triumphs.  

On the display above his counter are Polaroids, three deep, of fishermen and their big catches that unequivocally dispel the ‘big fish’ stories attributed to them. Upon closer inspection, the photos don’t stop there but are rather peppered throughout the store to be shared with the world.

This kind of personalized service endears Hines to his customers, like Lupe Martin who has been driving all the way from Des Plaines for the last four yeas to visit the Country Corner to get his tackle before heading up to Diamond Lake to fish. Undeterred by the big storm in early February, Martin was at Country Corner early in the morning.

“I got my lamp, my tent. It’s not cold at,” said the die-hard fisherman who, despite a slight language barrier, says he appreciates being able to share his ‘war’ stories with Hines.

Now getting close to retirement age, Hines plans to sell Country Corner. His children don’t want to follow in his footsteps and he would prefer to see them get better careers anyway.

“I’m a dinosaur,” he says. But with dinosaurs, at least the bones remain, so that we know that the images we create of them, project on the big screen and teach to our children are based on existing evidence. Norman Rockwell once said, “I was showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.” What will remain of small town life when all the remnants are gone?

“The personalized service is not there anymore,” said Margaret Wells who lives just down the street and has been coming in 3-4 times a week for the last 30 years.  “It is really sad,” she says.