On Friday, March 11 Callaway bid farewell to a long-time business. For nearly three decades, The Corner Stop has greeted travelers passing through town, as well as locals needing some fuel or minor car repairs, and a morning coffee crew. That chapter in the life of business owner Robert Pitkin is now closed.

Pitkin was born and raised in Callaway. Early in his adult life he and his wife, Christie, spent 10 years living and working in Colorado before returning to his hometown.

“I started this 26 years ago, after I got fired from the Co-op, so we decided to do this,” Pitkin said with a slight chuckle. “So we put a tank in and started doing tires, oil changes and brake jobs, and it just grew from there.”

The building was already on the lot, located on the corner of Kimball Street and Grand Avenue. “The building was put up in the 1930s I think. The Carruthers Brothers built it to start with. It was the Co-op for a long time, then it was the feed store, then it was a place called the Poke & Plumb. It was just an old gas station,” Pitkin explained. “We brought it back to life.”

Even during the 10 years he was in Colorado, Pitkin said he did this type of work. He sold parts for one of those years, then worked at a Co-op. “Christie decided to quit babysitting and we went to work on this. Then she went to work at the bank 11 or 12 years ago and retired a year ago. We worked - that was the whole secret,” he shared.

Pitkin recalled his early years when his parents sold feed; the family moved to town when he was 5-yearsold. “I’ve been around people my whole life, so I would just kind of like to be quiet and not around a lot of people for a while. I might run away and hide,” he laughed. “It just wears me out some days.”

There was a time when full-service gas stations could be found in nearly every community, large or small. Sadly they have become nearly extinct. “Nansel’s in Arnold and Eggleston’s in Oconto still pump gas. Other than that I don’t know of any,” said Pitkin. “Fifteen years ago I had a gal come in from Arizona and wanted gas. So I turned the pump on and went to pump it and she asked what I was doing, so I told her. She said I didn’t have to and I said I knew that. She said if I came to Arizona I could have all the business - nobody there was doing that.”

While he said he doesn’t have a lot in the way of future plans, there are plenty of projects to keep him busy for a while. “I have two daughters that bought houses this year and I have things to do there, and my wife has projects for me to do at the house. We have a four-car garage that we can’t get one vehicle in, so I think I need to do some cleaning.”

The Pitkin’s have three daughters - one in Burwell, one in Lexington and the other in Fairbury - and three grandchildren.

He doesn’t hesitate when asked his favorite part about his job for the past 26 years - the people. “I like to help people, I’m just tired of it now. It’s just a way to feel needed.”

Other than his daughters helping out from time-to-time and Christie doing the books all 26 years, Pitkin has run the station himself. He said an advancement in irrigation wells took a big toll on his business a few years ago, when the wells changed over to electric motors and no longer required fuel. “We probably lost about 50 wells through the years, and that was a lot of money that we didn’t have coming in anymore.”

As far as what will happen with The Corner Stop building, that is still up in the air. Pitkin said he is hopeful that someone may want to buy it and keep something going there - but for now, the corner is quiet.

Contact Ellen Mortensen at ellen@syndicatepub.com