LAKE ROESIGER — There’s beer in the cooler, chips on the shelf, chickens in the back yard and dogs on the porch at the Lake Roesiger Store, since 1939 a landmark in this rural community.
There also is an old, dirty gas pump outside wrapped in red tape. The pump — held together by some combination of baling wire, elbow grease and hope for the last few years — finally stopped pumping gas about two weeks ago, store owner Kevin Hickson said. He’s fixed it in the past, but this time it’s beyond repair.
Having a broken gas pump this summer would be a headache for customers and a hard hit to the store’s finances.
Hickson, 52, has been pricing new and used pumps. They range from $6,500 to just under $20,000. He figures even if he’s frugal, he’ll have to sell 20,000 gallons of gas to pay off a new pump. Last year, he sold a total of 8,600 gallons.
“So it’ll take me a few years to catch up,” he said.
Gas at the Lake Roesiger Store is more expensive than elsewhere because the store’s not sponsored by a large vendor and must order fuel at a higher price, said Jessica Godfrey, Hickson’s oldest daughter. Still, buying gas locally usually is easier than driving 10 miles to another station.
Godfrey helped set up an online donation site at www.gofundme.com/uq8g5w3k to raise money for a new gas pump. She lives in Pennsylvania now and wanted to do something to help her family’s store. Her dad reluctantly agreed.
“He’s a proud man and he doesn’t like to ask for help, but it’s in the middle of nowhere and he needs it,” Godfrey said. “There aren’t too many of these mom and pop shops left.”
With summer approaching, the population around the lake soon will swell as people flock to vacation cabins and tourists brave the backroads of Snohomish County to find a good swimming beach, fishing hole or campsite.
The Lake Roesiger Store is the only shop and gas pump for miles. Granite Falls is nine miles away, Lake Stevens 12 miles, and Snohomish 14 miles on winding, wooded roads.
“One thing I always wanted to do was make this kind of a community place,” Hickson said. “Out here, you’re a half hour outside of town, but it feels like two hours.”
He tries to keep “at least one of everything” in stock, he said. There are summer must-haves like ice, propane, s’mores supplies and fishing gear. There also are canned soups, sewing kits, candles, cold medicine, mouse traps and hair dye. The four employees, including Hickson and his youngest daughter Rachel, 19, can whip up an espresso if someone wants to sit at the counter and visit. There’s a room in the back of the small green building with a fireplace and a couple big tables for Friday game nights in the winter. That room, along with the back patio, turn into a beer garden during the summer. Hickson also rents out kayaks and fishing boats.
The store has to be a little bit of everything to survive, he said. It’s a coffee shop, fishing supplier, grocery store, beer stop, entertainment venue and gas station.
The business has changed hands a dozen times but almost always has been run by a local family, Hickson said. A volunteer firefighter and former mortgage banker, he bought the store with his wife and daughters in 2011. His wife died of a liver infection two years ago.
Jaclyn Morgan, 26, has worked at the store for five years and came with the place when the Hicksons bought it. She balances work with college psychology classes.
“This place is great,” Morgan said. “It’s definitely been a lifeline for me. When I told Kevin I was going back to school, he was super supportive. Everyone here is like family.”
Hickson feels like part of his job is helping neighbors get to know each other, though he jokes that they all probably know more than they ever wanted to. It’s a tight-knit neighborhood around the lake, and the store is a gathering place.
Hickson hopes to get a new gas pump installed in time for the summer crowds. The Go Fund Me page could make that happen.
“It was hard for me putting that out there,” he said. “I don’t like asking for help. I’d like to fix it myself.”
As a volunteer firefighter, though, he’s extra cautious with gasoline or electricity. He doesn’t have the expertise, and it’s not worth someone getting hurt in his attempt to repair something.
“We’ll get the right people and get it done right,” he said.
The campaign had raised almost $1,500 of its $15,000 goal by the end of last week.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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