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A Likely story
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| H&N photo by Lee Juillerat Rod Weed, proprietor of the Likely Store, rings up a customer as shopper Eric Olsen looks on. Weed and his wife Carol purchased the business about 25 years ago. |
Or, how one Modoc County town got its name
By LEE JUILLERAT
H&N Regional Editor
LIKELY — Candy bars, cigarettes and beer.
Make that lots of beer, from Coors Light to St. Pauli Girl, from single cans to six-packs to suitcase-sized cases.
But the Likely Store has more — knives, fishing lures, Stringer’s Wild Plum Wine, motor oil, cat food, necklaces, jeans, griddles, rubber boots, horseshoes, toilet paper, clothes pins, playing cards, shampoo, hairpins, sunglasses, Purex, handmade bits and spurs, local history books and, most likely, any and everything the 200 or so residents of the cozy ranching community or a passerby might want.
“It’s the best store around. I can find anything here,” said Eric Olsen, a regular from the nearby community of Madeline whose to-buy list included a hefty pack of Keystone Light.
“No. Not a clue,” laughed Rod Weed when asked how many items the store stocks on its shelves.
Weed and his wife Carol moved to Likely 32 years ago from the northern California coast. They bought the business about 25 years ago.
“It’s still the ol’ general store. I love the store,” said the 58-year-old Weed. “Likely’s a great place to live, a great place to raise kids.”
Community hub
The Likely Store is the community hub of the ranching community. Lyn Travertini, who’s lived in Likely 31 years and been postmaster the past three, estimates 200 people live in and around the community. Her husband is one of two teachers at South Fork Elementary School, which has 34 students in grades kindergarten to eighth.
During the day, while Rod works at the store, Carol is the combination secretary-custodian-cook at the school. On evenings when Rod moves down the street to the Likely Café, which the Weeds have owned the past 15 years, Carol shifts to the store.
“I came up here 32 years ago, and I knew what it was going to be,” Rod said. “It’s not a 40-hour-a-week job.”
Naming Likely
Part of the job is answering the inevitable question: How did Likely get its name?
As the story goes, during the 1880s people in the budding community decided it needed a name, which requires U.S. Post Office approval.
Because the community is on the south side of the south fork of the Pit River, they proposed South Fork. That choice was nixed because, depending on the version, there was already a South Fork Post Office in California with the same name, or because the postal service only allowed one-word names. Other names were suggested, but also rejected.
“Doesn’t seem likely we’ll ever get a name,” one local muttered.
“So, how about Likely?” quipped a companion.
Good for business
More than likely, no other name would have generated the business it creates for the Weeds.
“People ask for Likely stuff all the time,” Rod said, pointing to shelves that offer an assortment of sweatshirts, baseball caps, bumper stickers and a variety of “End of the Earth,” “Where in the Hell is Likely?” and other Likely logo T-shirts.
Several years ago, the Weeds opened up a basement room that features upscale knickknacks, including an ever-expanding line of glass-blown plates, bowls, glasses and candleholders along with Black Hills gold jewelry and other gift items.
But the Likely Store is no cute boutique.
Rod said the base of the business is groceries, from eggs, bacon, milk, tomatoes and chilled packs of beer in the walk-in refrigerator, to boxes of macaroni and cheese, heads of lettuce, canned pie fruit, taco sauce, bread, cereal, potato chips, coffee, peppers, mushrooms, tortillas and celery.
Charge it
Most locals put their charges on accounts. And, whether they’re locals or people like the couple who restocked while traveling from Alaska to Mexico, or the golfers on their way to the Likely Place RV & Golf Resort — most pause long enough to share stories.
“Working with the people,” Rod said of the lure.
“The variety of people,” Carol echoed.
Will the Weeds stay?
Most Likely.
Make that lots of beer, from Coors Light to St. Pauli Girl, from single cans to six-packs to suitcase-sized cases.
But the Likely Store has more — knives, fishing lures, Stringer’s Wild Plum Wine, motor oil, cat food, necklaces, jeans, griddles, rubber boots, horseshoes, toilet paper, clothes pins, playing cards, shampoo, hairpins, sunglasses, Purex, handmade bits and spurs, local history books and, most likely, any and everything the 200 or so residents of the cozy ranching community or a passerby might want.
“It’s the best store around. I can find anything here,” said Eric Olsen, a regular from the nearby community of Madeline whose to-buy list included a hefty pack of Keystone Light.
“No. Not a clue,” laughed Rod Weed when asked how many items the store stocks on its shelves.
Weed and his wife Carol moved to Likely 32 years ago from the northern California coast. They bought the business about 25 years ago.
“It’s still the ol’ general store. I love the store,” said the 58-year-old Weed. “Likely’s a great place to live, a great place to raise kids.”
Community hub
The Likely Store is the community hub of the ranching community. Lyn Travertini, who’s lived in Likely 31 years and been postmaster the past three, estimates 200 people live in and around the community. Her husband is one of two teachers at South Fork Elementary School, which has 34 students in grades kindergarten to eighth.
During the day, while Rod works at the store, Carol is the combination secretary-custodian-cook at the school. On evenings when Rod moves down the street to the Likely Café, which the Weeds have owned the past 15 years, Carol shifts to the store.
“I came up here 32 years ago, and I knew what it was going to be,” Rod said. “It’s not a 40-hour-a-week job.”
Naming Likely
Part of the job is answering the inevitable question: How did Likely get its name?
As the story goes, during the 1880s people in the budding community decided it needed a name, which requires U.S. Post Office approval.
Because the community is on the south side of the south fork of the Pit River, they proposed South Fork. That choice was nixed because, depending on the version, there was already a South Fork Post Office in California with the same name, or because the postal service only allowed one-word names. Other names were suggested, but also rejected.
“Doesn’t seem likely we’ll ever get a name,” one local muttered.
“So, how about Likely?” quipped a companion.
Good for business
More than likely, no other name would have generated the business it creates for the Weeds.
“People ask for Likely stuff all the time,” Rod said, pointing to shelves that offer an assortment of sweatshirts, baseball caps, bumper stickers and a variety of “End of the Earth,” “Where in the Hell is Likely?” and other Likely logo T-shirts.
Several years ago, the Weeds opened up a basement room that features upscale knickknacks, including an ever-expanding line of glass-blown plates, bowls, glasses and candleholders along with Black Hills gold jewelry and other gift items.
But the Likely Store is no cute boutique.
Rod said the base of the business is groceries, from eggs, bacon, milk, tomatoes and chilled packs of beer in the walk-in refrigerator, to boxes of macaroni and cheese, heads of lettuce, canned pie fruit, taco sauce, bread, cereal, potato chips, coffee, peppers, mushrooms, tortillas and celery.
Charge it
Most locals put their charges on accounts. And, whether they’re locals or people like the couple who restocked while traveling from Alaska to Mexico, or the golfers on their way to the Likely Place RV & Golf Resort — most pause long enough to share stories.
“Working with the people,” Rod said of the lure.
“The variety of people,” Carol echoed.
Will the Weeds stay?
Most Likely.
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JL wrote on Oct 29, 2008 10:27 AM: