Neighborhood institution set to close
To the Editor,
The writing is on the wall. Shelves are not being restocked. The final days are at hand. A Watsonville East Lake Village Shopping Center neighborhood institution is set to close.
In 1964 it began as Lambert’s Market. In the mid-1980s it became Fairway Mart, and in the late 1990s Super Max, which it is known today.
On Wednesday, April 18, a caller calling into Charles Freedman’s KSCO radio program asked the esteemed radio man if he had any news on what was happening to Super Max, and if a Trader Joe’s is in the cards to take its place. Freedman responded he did not know what was going to happen but did have time to take a poke at the soon-to-be-closed Watsonville institution. Freedman on Super Maxx: “It’s neither Max nor super.”
This is not the first time Freedman has blasted the grocery store. Another time Freedman, in not so many words, likened Super Max to a dump. Personally, I take offense to that. Two days ago at Super Max I spent $33 on essential grocery products that conspire in the continuation of life — vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs, meat, etc. For my entire life Super Max has been the primary grocery store. You never at Super Max suffer the indignity of a corporate Safeway experience — long interminable lines and lousy service. You never experience that claustrophobic, unhealthy “Safeway” feeling with many times unkept, dressed in bed clothes, hung over, angry people hacking and coughing all over the place. A trip to Super Max was guaranteed to lower your blood pressure. And the location (and parking) is especially good for seniors, many who live in the nearby senior community, and in other nearby neighborhoods.
The hope is that when Super Max bows out, a similar grocery store will take its place. A store run by someone with a vision for shoppers in the immediate vicinity, especially catering to seniors who certainly appreciate the relief of shopping at a grocery store that is low on stress. And this applies not only to seniors, but anybody who would rather shop in the old school manner rather than in the corporate Safeway/Trader Joe’s style which is closing in on having a monopoly on all shopping everywhere.
Charles Birimisa
Watsonville
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Re-elect John Phillips as Monterey County Supervisor
To the Editor,
I am pleased that John Phillips, who has so ably served as a member of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors for the 2nd District, is seeking re-election.
John has been a positive force in our predominantly North County district since he was sworn in on January 2015 after winning the election the prior November.
He has represented our interests well, working hard to find solutions to many issues, such as traffic, water and affordable housing.
John is a “do-er” who is not a career politician. For more than 40 years he has served Monterey County in a variety of ways — as a prosecutor, a judge and as the founder of Rancho Cielo, which has done a marvelous job at helping hundreds of young adults to become flourishing citizens.
I hope that you will join me in voting to re-elect John Phillips to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors on June 5.
Dell Matt
Salinas
