Published: August 16, 2008 09:31 pm         

Community celebrates 40th anniversary of the Tilford Variety Store

‘People have grown up with Tilford’s,’ Mayor Bennett says

TERRE HAUTE — Terre Haute’s historic 12 Points was alive and well Saturday as community members came together to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Tilford Variety Store on Lafayette Avenue.

Cecil Tilford, 83, first opened the store with his late wife Doris in 1968 down the street from its current location. When smoke and water damage from an electrical fire in 2002 were too much to repair, he re-opened in a commercial space of the old 12 Points Hotel.

A postal sub-station is also operated from the Tilford Variety Store. Tilford has been in the area for so long, many have come to know him as “the Mayor of 12 Points.”

Dozens of people walked up and down Lafayette Avenue listening to the self-playing piano from the Old Piano Shop, eating ice cream or just chatting and catching up outside Tilford’s store.

“You don’t see that too much in 12 Points,” Tilford said about the crowd filling the street.

Among those who stopped by to congratulate Tilford on his 40 years were Terre Haute Police Chief John Plasse and Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett.

Plasse remembered stopping at Tilford’s to buy candy with his friends after delivering newspapers sometime in the mid to late 1970s, he said.

“It was good for us kids, who couldn’t drive,” he said about the store. “It’s more personalized [than chain stores] because he knew us by name, and he still remembered me.”

Though Plasse doesn’t make it to Tilford’s as much as he used to, he was glad to be able to make it back Saturday joining in the others to honor him.

“Back then, all these places were full,” he said as he looked up and down the street, but competing with shopping center, malls and discount chain stores have since put them out of business. “It’s not going away, that’s the main thing. It just may be a little smaller.”

Ray Kemp, 77, of Terre Haute echoed Plasse’s accounts.

Kemp, who was a police officer from 1955 to 1979, used to “walk the beat” in 12 Points when it was full of life, he said. People need to realize they need more “mom and pop businesses,” he said.

“A variety store, you can go in there and buy things you wouldn’t find anywhere else,” Kemp said.

Neither Kemp or Plasse were surprised by the turnout of people to visit Tilford and celebrate his accomplishments because he’s been around for so long.

Even growing up on Terre Haute’s east side, Bennett said he always heard about Tilford’s.

“People have grown up with Tilford’s,” he said. “It’s a generational thing.”

Bennett publicly thanked Tilford for his “willingness to stay the course.”

“Cecil, you’ve done an excellent job, and you really are the honorary mayor of 12 Points,” Bennett said.

Following Bennett’s remarks, Rich Curtis, president of the 12 Points Greater Northside Association, presented Tilford with a plaque honoring his 40 years of business. Then, one by one, community members took the mic to share Tilford stories.

One woman spoke about moving to the area during the blizzard of 1978 with two 11-year-old boys, who weren’t happy about the move until they discovered Tilford’s. A man said northside’s baseball wouldn’t be what it is today without Tilford, who sponsored many teams over the years.

It wasn’t all memories of the good old days, though as 8-year-old Mary Katherine Bedwell took the mic to talk about how much she loves buying candy at Tilford’s.

“I love Mr. Tilford like he’s my grandpa …,” she said. “I love shopping at his store and buying all his candy.”

Curtis said having a celebration like this one is important because it could help revitalize 12 Points, which is the goal of the nonprofit 12 Points Greater Northside Association.

He’s known Tilford for seven years and said his work ethic is what makes him stand out and despite having severely injuring his hip in a car accident in 1954 causing him to be in pain every day, but still going to work.

“I’ve never seen anybody with a work ethic like Cecil,” Curtis said. “He’s always willing to lend a hand. He’s part of the community.”

Even as the celebration was taking place, Tilford often had to be dragged from behind the counter in the store to be recognized.

It’s that work ethic Tilford has attributed his success to, as his advice for other small business owners was: “Don’t give up and don’t get discouraged.”

For more information about the 12 Points Greater Northside Association, call (812) 232-7170.

Crystal Garcia can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or crystal.garcia@tribstar.com.