(Gilly Gilmore, proprietor)
It came to pass one day that a grumpy old guy, who we came to know as "Grumpy"
sauntered through a beautiful little valley with his old pack mule "Ruth".
Grumpy and Ruth stumbled upon a beautiful lake and decided to rest a while. He unpacked his fishing stuff and proceeded to wet a hook. Lo and behold, no sooner did he get that hook into water did he have a bite and pulled out a fish big enough to last two meals. He said to Ruth, "I'll swan if I don't think I found heaven on earth and this is where we are going to stay." Ruth didn't answer of course, her being a mule and all but she did whinny her approval. Anything to get that heavy pack off her back.
They started scouting around for a good place to make camp when they came upon a neat little shack.
"Well, she ain't the Ritz but she'll do until we can build us something more permanent", Grump said.
So Grumpy embarked on the construction of his little log cabin. He cut the logs and Ruby hauled them to the site. Soon he completed the job.
As time went by strangers began to drop by and asked if he had any bait to sell. They wanted to fish in the lake. He sold them what he had and then got the idea to lay in a bigger supply. Thus began the little enterprise of Boogers Bait and Tackle store. He named it after his sidekick who he had to bury along side the trail. He was bitten by a rattlesnake, don't you know.
Footnote:Since Grumpy's story was told, his wanderlust got the best of him. He decided to go back from whence he came. So he put the bait shop up for sale or lease, packed up his essentials, loaded them on the back of old Ruth, his trusty packmule and retraced the trail that brought him into the Valley. On the trail, he stooped over and plucked a handfull of posies. When he came upon the grave where he had buried his old sidekick, Booger, he knelt by the grave and gently placed the posies on his grave. He then got up and resumed his trek along the trail--slowly disappearing into the sunset.
Vaya con Dios, mi amigo
The shop was rented by a few good ole boys over the years and was recently advertised in the Valley Voice. At last it was rented by Gilly Gilmore a resident of Wholesome Valley. He can be seen sitting on the front porch spinning yarns with the citizens as they drop by on their way to the lake for fishing. He spends a lot of time explaining why the "Smoky's" sign is on top of his shop. Well folks that's another story. Seems like a prior renter by the name of Smoky put that sign up and Gilly just left it there. 