The veteran continues to run the Pondosa Store

PONDOSA — Bob Bennett buttons the Marine Corps jacket and tugs the hat on his head, grinning at this gift from his daughter, Lori Brock.

Bennett, 102, lost his original uniform sometime during the 80 years since World War II ended.

But Brock found a replacement, and on June 29, two days after his birthday, he donned the uniform and posed for a photo in front the Pondosa Store, a stop on Highway 203 near the border between Baker and Union counties where he’s sold ice cream and cold drinks since 1983.

The uniform joins the “World War II veteran” cap Bennett usually wears on trips into Baker City.

“Dad can’t go to town without someone buying him lunch,” Brock said with a laugh. “There aren’t too many World War II veterans left anymore.”

Pondosa was a mill town about 25 miles north of Baker City on Highway 203, a couple miles from Medical Springs. The mill closed in 1959 — around the time the town was named the geographic center of the United States, a claim made possible when Alaska and Hawaii were added as states that year.

“Equidistance from all points turned out to be right here,” Bennett said.

A newspaper clipping affixed to the wall documents that story, along with a photo of the original sign that was installed seven miles away, near Catherine Creek Summit, because snow stopped the group. (The sign helpfully noted that the true geographic center was “7 miles northeast of this point.”)

Coming to Pondosa

Bennett grew up in Springfield and Eugene, and he moved to Portland for work during the war.

He married his wife, Betty Jean, on Dec. 21, 1941, exactly two weeks after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and ushered the U.S. into the war.

“I was drafted shortly after that,” he said.

Bennett entered the U.S. Marine Corps in early 1942 and attended radio school in College Station, Texas.

“Then we boarded a boat for the South Pacific,” he said.

He served as a radio operator in the Solomon Islands until earning enough points to return stateside. He was stationed in California until the war ended, then he returned to the Eugene area.

A few years later his brother-in-law, Lester Gaddy, answered an ad in the Eugene Register-Guard.

“He saw this advertisement — a mill town for sale,” Bennett said.

Gaddy bought the land and moved to Pondosa, where he operated a store in the building originally used for housing single mill workers.

Gaddy died in 1982. He had no wife or children, so Bennett’s wife, Betty Jean, inherited the town.

“I quit my job and we moved here. I’m glad we did,” Bennett said with a smile.

The Bennetts operated the store, and Bob set to work on the massive sawdust pile left from the mill days. For about 25 years he chopped, bagged and sold sawdust in Baker and Union counties. After the pile was gone, he divided the property into smaller lots to sell.

Pondosa Store

When the Bennetts moved to Pondosa, they made a few changes to the store.

“Basically he just sold pop, beer and cigarettes,” Brock said of her uncle, Lester. “When my mom got a hold of it, she got rid of the beer and cigarettes.”

These days, the store stocks cold drinks, ice cream, fresh popcorn, snacks, chips, ice, matches and other essentials for camping, such as bug spray and toilet paper. Highway 203 intersects with several forest roads that lead into the Wallowa Mountains.

Over the years, the Bennetts offered more than snacks — they also regaled visitors with the story of Pondosa.

“She’d go through the whole story, and tell stories that people had told her,” Brock said.

Betty Jean died in 2015. A few years ago, Brock and Bennett decided to again stock beer — but not cigarettes.

The store is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. On the grounds, they offer three camp sites, which can be reserved through hipcamp.com or by calling the store, 541-853-2351. Also, a memorial park dedicated to Betty Jean is often a resting spot for touring car clubs as well as travelers on motorcycles and bicycles.

The guest book documents visitors from near and far, such as Germany, Australia, Mexico and British Columbia.

“Some days it’s slow, but some are pretty busy,” Bennett said. “I have a lot of people who have been here before, and stop by to visit.”