By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer

PERU – Kim Driscoll walked through Blaisdell’s Variety store beside Route 108 late Friday morning with a phone in her hand.

About every minute, Driscoll, manager of the Peru convenience store and gas station, got a call. People were asking for the price of regular unleaded.

“It’s $3.85,” she said. Then, she politely explained why.

“This morning, we picked up a load of gas in Portland, and our price now reflects what we are being charged there,” Driscoll said to caller after caller.

For the past few days, gas was selling for $2.85, she said. It was about the best price around in the River Valley area.

“All week long, we’ve got lots of phone calls. For the last two days, it’s been line after line of cars backed up to purchase gas. It was nonstop crazy,” she said.

But late Friday morning, the story was different.

All but one set of gas pumps were out of order. They were not designed to sell gas at prices above $3. Pump handles on these pumps were enclosed in white plastic bags.

“We’re not out of gas. We had new mechanisms put in two months ago,” she said, then explained that neither she nor the clerks knew how to adjust them.

“Gas has never gone over $3. Who’s ever gone above $3?” Driscoll asked.

A technician had been called to reset the pump prices.

People trying to get gas were confused at first until Driscoll explained they had to use the middle pumps. Some people also complained about the price hikes.

One man loudly compared it to highway robbery by Old West outlaw Jesse James, but without the gun.

Driscoll politely told him that neither she nor the clerks had anything to do with the high prices. The man said he was only joking.

“Everybody has a comment. It’s a tough situation for the sales clerk. People pump it, then come in and say, Oh my gosh! When’s it going to stop? At $4?’

“My gut feeling is that it will cap at $4, then fluctuate a bit and go down a little,” Driscoll said.

She said other stations would soon be following Blaisdell’s price when they order more gas.

“While we were at the low end for two days, everyone around us was up over $3. Now, people surrounding us haven’t got their new load yet,” she said.

Gas at C.N. Brown’s Big Apple Shell station on Route 2 in Mexico was at $3.39 Friday afternoon. The manager there refused to comment on prices or identify herself. She said her boss had forbidden Big Apple store managers to speak to reporters.

Outside at the pump, Paul Gaudet of Dixfield said prices everywhere “are ridiculous.”

He was refueling his three-quarter-ton GMC pickup. A handwritten note taped to each of the pumps told customers that the price on the pump “is one half of the total price.”

“I can’t believe we have to pay this price. I just put $30 in and that won’t even get my tank up to half. Nine-and-a-half gallons! This truck won’t be moving much after this,” he said.

Other prices in Rumford and Mexico on Friday afternoon ranged from $3.09 to $3.39. One station, Irving on Main Street in Mexico, sported handwritten “NO GAS” signs on the pumps and the attendant’s office.

Gas was $2.85 there Thursday, $2.69 on Wednesday.

“And, to think it was (heating) oil we were all worried about a month and a half ago, and how senior citizens were going to pay for it,” Driscoll said, taking another call.