PINE BARRENS TRIBUNE www.pinebarrenstribune.com Bass River
Medford
Medford Lakes
Pemberton
Pemberton Borough
@PineBarrensNews Shamong
Southampton
Southeastern Burlington County's News Leader
Vol. 1- No. 7
facebook.com/pinebarrenstribune Tabernacle
Washington
Woodland
October 15-21, 2016
Buzby’s General Store Owner Contemplates Future By Adam Tait III For the Pine Barrens Tribune
CHATSWORTH –It has stood at the same corner, open for business for 151 years. It’s changed, of course over that time, but far less than you might think. It, of course, is Buzby’s Chatsworth General Store, for eight generations serving the community, not only as a store but as a meeting place. However, its future is far from clear. Owner R. Marilyn Schmidt is 87, with serious health problems. Buzby’s has been for sale since 2011. The sale price of $575,000 is now $425,000. Schmidt says the store, registered with a realtor, has had some recent nibbles. Schmidt, physically frail, is remarkably clear headed. Not a native Piney, she bought the store in 1998, after it had been closed for seven years. A massive cleanup, taking a year, followed. Now the store bears a remarkable resemblance to the dozens of photos from around 1900 that cover its walls. Even the famous wooden radiator cover, which warmed the backsides of generations of customers when the store was a community meeting place, is back in place. Like the general store of the 1900s, you can still buy a surprising variety of goods. There are hundreds of gifts and household knickknacks. While the 22 dishes that for years held penny candy are gone, there’s still plenty of sweet treats, all in small boxes now. Another big seller is locally-made jams. If you’re looking for books, especially anything Pinelands related, there’s more here that you’d find in any library. Covered is history, churches, cemeteries, cook books and recipes, well over 100 titles, many of them authored by Schmidt. The cook books are heavy on seafood. Schmidt even drew up a Pine Barrens map, which has sold thousands of copies. Schmidt, born in Barnegat Light, “next to the lighthouse,” considers herself an “adopted Piney,” due to her research and writing. While she will hate leaving the Pines, once the store is sold, she’s resigned to moving to seniors’ housing. In her earlier life, Schmidt worked in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in food and drug regulations. Her first published book was on pharmacology, published by Harper & Row. Also in a writing vein, Schmidt was the founder and first editor of the shore region’s Barnegat Light Press in 1980. She founded the Pine Barrens Press in the late 1980s. Schmidt had an impressive collection of historic documents, photos, and legal records about the store. She’s donated them to Stockton State University, where they’re on display in the library. If you’ve never visited Buzby’s, or haven’t been in for a while, take a look. The 1900-era photos alone are worth viewing. The store is on the state and U.S. Registers of Historic
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PHOTO SUBMITTED
Buzby's General Store then and now.
PHOTO BY BERNADETTE MCANENEY-HARRIS
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