NEW GLOUCESTER – When 75-year-old George Wing locks the doors to his family business Thursday night, the keys will be turned over to new owners and he’ll head to the pasture.
It will mark the end of the latest chapter of his life at Wing’s Tank & Tummy in Upper Gloucester. The store has been like home to him and his family for 31 years.
Tears well up in his eyes as he talks about raising his family at the store, making friends, serving customers and welcoming vendors who shared heartfelt camaraderie.
He will miss the people and his lifeline to the community, but he’s ready to pay more attention to his farm of 40 head of beefalo that he runs with his son, Dusty. The family believes the farm, established in 1972, puts them among the oldest continuous beefalo breeders in the United States.
At the store on Tuesday, customers trickled in one at a time at noon, laughing and joking and hugging and greeting one another in the pine-paneled eatery.
Christian Wagner of South Portland stopped to get a slice of pizza, settling down at the counter for a leisurely lunch.
“I pass through every few weeks and this is a nice place to stop,” he said.
Andy Cash of New Gloucester said he felt like family. “This is the nerve center of the town. I’ve moved back to New Gloucester three different times, and the store made me move back again. I’m here out of dedication,” he said.
Joe Graf, 71, of Brunswick, a bunch regular, took a seat at the counter. “I’ve been eating here for 16 years,” he said. “These are nice people who work here, I can joke around and raise Cain and have fun.”
Aimee Porter, a cook, remembers Graf putting caution tape around her car when she celebrated her birthday. She’s been cooking at the store five days a week and will stay on to help new owners Penny and Felix Lincoln of New Gloucester.
‘Won’t be the same’
George and Thelma Wing grew up in New Gloucester. After they married, he joined the U.S. Air Force, served in Korea and Vietnam and retired after 20 years of service.
They came back to town and moved into Thelma’s family farm to raise their children. They bought the store from Orlean and Elliot Sturgis, the proprietors for 30 years.
For 31 years it has been like home to the couple, their five children, 14 grandchildren and more than 112 employees.
“If someone asks me where I’m from, I tell them New Gloucester, Maine. Before long, they’ll admit they’ve been to Wing’s store or that place that sells beefalo burgers. Then, most usually will mention ‘that old fella there told me a lot about beefalo. He’s one of the good guys,’” Dusty Wing said, referring to his father.
The younger Wing said mom and pop stores, places where friends can meet on a daily basis, are hard to find these days.
“Local news is heard, accomplishments are acknowledged, hardships and tragedies are shared, and even though a simple ‘howdy’ seems just that simple, it is needed on a daily basis for customers and the people working the counter or the gas pumps as well,” he said.
For his father, it’s time for a change.
“This just won’t be the same, but it’s time to go,” George Wing said.