Moving on
Come Sunday, Peabody will say goodbye to the owners of one of its anchor businesses. Jim and Marilyn Cox have sold their grocery store after serving the community for 23 years. When the store re-opens for business Monday morning, it will be under new ownership.
Probably not many of you know (or remember), but I spent a brief stint working for Jim back in the late 1970s. Ralph Thrash owned the store at the time and Jim was in charge of the meat department. I was his assistant.
Actually, I was the chicken-bagger — a really disgusting job. I also cut up chickens, arranged them on styrofoam trays, and covered them in shrink-wrap. I covered lots of stuff in shrink-wrap. But bagging chickens was the worst.
It was years before I could bring myself to buy a chicken in a bag and then take it out at home to cook it.
If this was a real tear-jerker of a story about how wonderful Jim Cox is, I would be able to tell you here that he took pity on my aversion to those birds and did the job himself. Nahhh. Didn't happen. He just kept making me bag them.
I don't remember much more about being a butcher's assistant.
Jim and Marilyn have contributed much to the community during their years here. They have served on multiple boards and committees for the Methodist church and the community. Their "horseless carriage" has always been available for parades and community productions. They have made their store available to groups needing a foothold for their benefit projects — VFW poppy sales, food bank donations, space for flyers and newsletters, and jars for cash to fund all manner of things.
As a person who has been on the fund-raising end of several projects in Peabody, I know that one of the best things about them has been their quiet giving. They have always been generous contributors, but I'd be willing to bet that very few people know it. They are not the kind of people to tell about their giving.
They have truly been great supporters of the community.
When I worked for Jim in the meat department, I used to tell him that I wished he would put his knowledge of main course food to work and invent something wonderful that would cook itself. I hate to cook. He promised that he would think about it.
The other day I asked if he had ever done anything about that. He replied that it was first on his list of things to do as soon as he moved to Junction City to join Marilyn. I am greatly relieved. However, with my luck it will involve a bagged chicken.
Good luck, Jim and Marilyn. Thanks for all you have done.
— SUSAN MARSHALL
