Ernie Barth and his sister Irene in 1936 or 37.
This is the oldest known photo taken inside the Barth store according to Ernie’s son Wayne, who donated this photo.
Around the turn of the 20th century, Paul and Christina Barth had a son who would grow to be the future of the Omena Country Store.
Ernie as a young boy standing in front of Barth’s Store – Courtesy Omena Historical Society
Little Ernie Barth was one of four children. He and his sister and brothers, Robert, William, and Irene, grew up very much a part of the life of the store and the village.
Ernie goes off to War
When he was a young man he left Omena, first to serve in the First World War and then to work as a metal finisher for Fisher Body and the Steward Body Company in Flint.
Then his father, Paul, died in 1936. The store and Omena called him back. He left his more lucrative career in the city and returned to the village of Omena where he would remain for the next 35 years becoming a well-loved fixture of Omena life.
His marriage to Esther Omland of East Jordan brought a gentle and wonderful lady to Omena and her contributions went far beyond the store.
Ernie was sometimes grouchy, sometimes friendly, but always loved to talk to his customers. He not only sold newspapers, he also read them (sometimes, being a frugal man, carefully refolding them afterward and putting it back on the pile to sell). He considered himself an expert on world affairs and felt compelled to talk about how world issues related to things in Omena. During his time the country passed from the Great Depression, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and President Nixon’s impeachment among other things, and Ernie shared his opinions about them all.
Inside Barth’s store, Ernie and a customer, sometime during the 1950s. – Courtesy Omena Historical Society
Life as a Shopkeeper
It was the depression when Ernie began life as a shopkeeper and his kindnesses to the community did not go unnoticed. His wife, Esther was also beloved by the community who remembered she had a “kind heart” as well. With three children of their own, Wayne, Glen and Eileen, Ernie knew what would appeal to children especially and in the years that followed with the food rationing of World War II. He would slip things into the bags of regular customers that would please them. Mary Helen Ayres (Ray) remembered her mother being surprised to find an unordered bag of sugar (which was rationed) or a Hershey Bar in her bag when she got home.
When Ernie brought electric lighting to his store, it brought in customers who had avoided the gloomy darkness of it under Paul’s management. Customers balanced their purchases between Barth’s Store and Anderson’s with only a whiff of favoritism. He kept his old Ford running for over 20 years. Its spare tire on the back was often the prey of local pranksters.
Ernie Wore Many Hats
Ernie was excellent at making fishing flies, as well as being an exceptionally good fisherman. – Courtesy Omena Historical Society
He was a Justice of the Peace, and a Notary Public. He was a winter cottage caretaker, walking snowy Omena Point Road, checking the cottages for snow buildup, loose shutters, or signs of break-ins carrying a shotgun in case he saw a partridge along the way.
In 1972 Esther’s health declined and they found it necessary to sell the store and move to East Jordan where Esther had been born. After 83 years of Barth ownership, Barth’s Country Store became Bert’s Country Store under the new ownership of Bert and Bette Wheeler.
And six years later the store sold again, this time to Richard and Ingrid (Sunny) Colling.
Ernie is Fondly Remembered
Some from Omena still remember Ernie’s store. Ruth Bussy remembers the gum ball machine, the candy bars, and the fancy doorknob. Karen Fredrickson talks about Ernie’s wonderful fishing flies and that he loved to fish with her dad. She helped Esther out with the Northport Lutheran Church rummage sales on the corner next to the store, which couldn’t have been a better location.
Ernie had witnessed from the bench on the stoop of his store the slow evolution of Omena from the schooners and steamships of his earliest memories, Maude, the train’s lonely whistle from the hill behind the store, to early cars replacing the horses who had been a fixture of the village. He is a beloved part of Omena’s history.