It doesn’t look like much. Just a small snack stand wrapped in caution tape on the side of Highway 18 in Agra. The sign is faded and barely readable. No one is allowed inside.
But this small building holds a lot of memories for the town. Especially those of the man who ran it for over 50 years, Dale McFarlin.
Sue Chesnut, an Agra resident and the unofficial town historian according to her friends, remembers first hearing about the stand from Dale’s wife.
“She was so excited. She told Mama, she said, ‘The state’s getting Dale a candy shop. And they’re going to put it up here in town,” Chesnut said.
That was back in 1956. Every day since it opened, Dale would walk the twoand- a-half blocks from his home to the stand, a feat considering he was blind and did it without the aid of a walking stick.
“I don’t think he ever called in sick,” recalled Gary Roberts, president of the Agra Alumni Association.
“We used to sit in class and you’d see him come up at that street,” added John Palkowski.
“He didn’t have any trouble until they added on to the school. And that really threw him off,” said Chesnut.
The stand has sat empty since about 2015 or so - no one in the group of alumni gathered in the Agra Senior Center on Oct. 2 could really agree on when exactly it closed. But rather than see it torn down, the alumni association is leading the charge in raising money to fix it up and keep it around for future generations.
The previous week the Agra City Council voted to accept the deed from Dale’s son - Jimmy Dale McFarlin - on the condition that at least $2,500 was raised for repairs by Oct. 15, according to City Council member Ted Evans. So far, the alumni association has put their money where their mouths are. Donations have come in the mail and through a booth at Trade Days on Sept. 28, according to the group.
“That just tells you how important it was to people in the community to come up with a good chunk of money in a week,” said Linda (Hart) Palkowski, another alumna.
There is still a lot of discussion about what to do with Dale’s once the work is finished. The City Hall is about to be redone, so they’re considering moving the stand as it sits right in front of the building, said Evans. The company that recently installed the new sign in front of the high school has offered to renovate the sign on top of the stand, said Roberts.
He added that the roof needs to be repaired and likely the walls. Several people in town have offered to donate lumber and building materials, as well as the work, his wife Nancy Roberts said.
Nancy said there are a lot of regulations that they have to meet, so they aren’t sure just what they can do with the stand. Regardless, the alumni hope to put up a plaque to commemorate Dale and all the memories many Agra residents have. “You go to Dale’s, if you didn’t have any money, he’d let you charge it,” Gary Roberts recalled.
“The girls would go there, but it was mainly the boys hanging out. And in the wintertime, when it got cold outside, he would let all of us come inside,” said Evans.
“Letting all these boys come in and stand in the wintertime, there was never any trouble in there,” John Palkowski added. “We never knew of anybody trying to steal anything.”
The Agra Alumni Association continues to raise money for the project. Those interested in donating can contact the association or send checks to them by mail.