“Young’s General Store, Part 1”

If a person has even heard of Middle River, Minnesota, then they are familiar with the iconic Young’s General Store. The longest-standing Middle River institution, this store is as old as the town itself. Those of us who grew up as locals, and even many visitors, can fondly recall shopping trips to Young’s (or, as it was colloquially referred to for quite some time, “Howard’s”). I, personally, reminisce on the days of waiting with friends for the afternoon bus home from school. We would walk across the blue bridge into downtown, and stop at Young’s for a bag of chips, bottle of Gatorade, and friendly “Hi, Kids!” from Patsy. We would even occasionally glimpse the legendary Howard himself resting on a bar stool, deep in conversation with one of his many friends.