At some point during Jack's trips down here to hunt, Baldy took him to Klatt Hardware & Lumber Co. in Orange Grove. Jack fell in love with the place. It was a lot like the old hardware stores he grew up with. They have everything from farm and ranch supplies, to electrical and plumbing parts, nuts, bolts, screws, paint, drywall, cement and mortar, kerosene lamps, lawn and garden tools, windmill parts, hand and power tools, cowboy hats, and much more than you could ever guess. And it didn't matter if you needed barb wire, posts and nails for two miles of barbed wire or one six inch sixteen foot creasote post for your pier, they would deliver. Also if you needed them to, they would deliver a new hot water heater, hook it up, and haul off your old one. Many has housewife has been saved from a disaster in the middle of the day while her husband was off working the the old one sprung a leak.

You need to go into the back to see some stuff you would not think about. Years ago one of my neighbors just happened to ask if they could somehow order a leather belt for his grandmothers old foot powered Singer sowing machine. One of the guys at the counter asked him "How many do you want?" Charles followed him to the back and they had three in the bin. You could look up in the rafters and see an unused wooden airplane propeller. In the back between the bins of pvc connections on the right and galvanized on the left are three or four 1950's and 60's vintage bicycles covered in dust. Several years ago I was looking for some part and one of the workers led me over to a corner where I spotted an old American flag on a 6 or 7 foot wooden pole. It had 48 stars. They supplied the area schools with American flags. There was always one in each classroom. This one was in stock when Alaska joined the union in 1959. I asked if they wanted to sell it, but whoever it was helping me said that it wasn't for sale.

I don't know how old the store is, but Gordon Klatt is in his 80's now, and it was his Dad Perry who started it. It has old wooden floors, and they only just recently changed out the wooden drawers behind the counter that had been there since I first went into Klatt's in 1959. I was kind of sad to see it go. It is more expensive than Home Depot or Walmart, but they have some stuff that the others don't, they are close and all the workers are friends. I buy everything there except what they don't have on hand if I need it right then. I run into friends and neighbors there all the time, and we stop and visit. I don't know all the people that come to shop there, but Gordon, Gordon Junior, Joe, John, Carl and Otto (who works there part time) exchange greetings by name of nearly every customer. And there are a lot of women who buy things that don't know what they need or how they work, and the staff knows it all and can tell you without having to go find someone. But the friendly atmosphere and the old timey feeling was what got to Jack. During the years he came down, he often bought things there that he needed back home in Baytown. He got to know all of the guys behind the counter. Some names besides the owners, and sons have changed over the years, but not the way they go about their business. Jack made many trips there while we were working on boats and motors, but for some reason he always called it Katts. If we needed something he would say "Let's go to Kattses" (sounded like Katzes) Just don't know.