Parting with town’s icon

Bill Hollier with daughter Lee Nooy. 122692 Picture: ROB CAREW

By CASEY NEILL

LEE Nooy hasn’t bought milk, bread or petrol in almost 20 years.
Three generations of her family have run Maryknoll’s post office, general store and gallery for the past 18-and-a-half years.
Now Lee and husband Garry and her parents Pauline and Bill Hollier have put the business up for sale.
“My dad’s in his 70s now, and we just think he needs to retire and do some trips,” Mrs Nooy said.
“Mum and Dad need to have some fun.
“It’s time for us to do something else. We still love it, but it’s the right time to do it.”
She said a family holiday was on the cards, with children Jedd, 25, Todd, 20, Maggie, 16 and Andee, 14.
“We lived on the premises for 15 years,” Ms Nooy said.
“The residence is adjoining the shop, so you could just walk out in your pyjamas and get the milk and the paper.
“There are some people that we’ve seen in town pretty much every day, come and get their paper and have a chat.
“We’ve seen some of the children grow, from being babies to going right through primary school and high school and now having their licence.
“Some of the people when we first came who were in primary school are now married with children,” she said.
Mrs Nooy said many customers had become friends.
“You become part of the community and the community becomes part of your life,” she said.
“On the first day of school, a customer might come in and take a photo, so we could all be in the photo, so they’ve been part of our milestones.”
The kids spent a lot of time in the store.
“Sometimes, they might have a little trike that they were riding around the store,” she said.
“We have mixed lollies like an old-fashioned store.
“We have a photo I think of Maggie getting her little hands into the lollies.
“She tipped over the Clinkers one time and was sitting in a circle of Clinkers thinking that was her breakfast.”
Mrs Nooy said the store was a meeting place.
“One of the special things I think about our store is that people have to come into the store to collect their mail, so it’s like an old-style general store,” she said.
“That way you get to know everybody.
“You can introduce people to other people if they’re new. It builds those networks.”
Those community ties helped the Nooys when they needed it most.
“Todd, when he was five, he had a liver transplant. The community were really, really supportive,” Mrs Nooy said.
“The kids don’t really want us to sell because they have unlimited lollies!
“The girls, in particular, don’t know anything different.”
What will she miss most?
“The customers. Seeing our customers. That’s easy,” she said.
She said there was room to introduce other elements to the store, and the business was going strong.
“It is the centre of town. It’s just time for us to change,” she said.