Who was shopping at Ross' IGA?
Since the Main Street newsletter came out two weeks ago in the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin several readers have contacted me to name the "unidentified grocery shopper" in the photo with Ross Mathias. Ross' granddaughter Laci Orpin wrote a tribute to him and her mom provided us with a photo of Ross and a shopper in his store. I had no idea who was in the photo with him.
Former Florence mayor Jeannie Meirowsky was the first to identify him. When I looked at the picture after she named the man, I thought, "Well of course it is
So we are going to have a little contest here. The "Name the Unidentified Shopper with Ross Mathias" contest is under way. The winner will receive a year's subscription to this fine newspaper! Call me, write me, e-mail me, or stop me on the street to give me the name of your candidate. For judges I'll round up some really old guys who've been around Peabody for a long time and remember everyone who ever lived here.
This will be a pretty informal contest and it will last until the interest dies out — probably a week or two. I will keep track of your nominees and after the old guys decide for sure who it is, we will put the name of everyone who nominated that person into a box and draw the winner.
So let me know who you think that mystery shopper might be. I have some leftover papers at the office if you already have lined your birdcage. Come on, this will be fun. You have nothing to lose and a year's subscription to the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin to win. Go for it.
— SUSAN MARSHALL
