Published: June 21, 2009 12:13 am      

Marshall’s Confectionary closing

Eatery has been Lonaconing landmark for 99 years

LONACONING — Say goodbye.

At 4 p.m. on June 30, you can say adios to cheeseburgers and fries eaten in old, black, oak booths.

Say farewell as well to vanilla Cokes and cherry phosphates tapped from behind a decades-old fountain.

That day, it will be adieu to lunches of roast beef or turkey —with mashed potatoes and green beans, of course — and coffee in old white mugs. Lots of coffee in old white mugs.

When Marshall’s Confectionary shuts its door for good at 44 Main St. on June 30, a Lonaconing landmark will disappear, taking with it the smiling faces of Jeanie and Tom Shockey who have owned and operated the friendly, tasty and inexpensive community eatery for the last 25 years of its 99-year run.

“It was just time,” Jeanie Shockey said of the decision to close. “It’s hard work. I’ve told that to the few people who have shown interest in buying the business.”

Shockey was seated in one of the confectionary’s historic booths as she talked about the past. The seated position was a rare posture for her. Much of the day’s hours are spent afoot, in the kitchen. “Fortunately, I love to cook,” she said.

Shockey said she and Tom, who holds a full-time custodian job with the Allegany County Board of Education, have tried a little for the past three months to sell the business. There is a sign in the window. A professional acquaintance is checking around some for buyers.

“It will be up for sale until we close,” Shockey said. “It’s profitable.” Shockey agreed that new eateries popping up in some places are being made to look like those from the past. “This one is already the real thing,” she said. The building is owned by another party.

The Shockey’s bought the business in 1984 from Bradley Marshall, a descendent of the original owner. “We didn’t change a thing,” Jeanie said. “People liked it just the way it was.”

Fran Broadwater, who lives within an easy walk of the confectionary, said she will be sad to see it close. “I come here all the time to pick up this or that,” Broadwater said. Her favorite item? A hamburger with ketchup and extra pickles.

Marshall’s fare is proof that food doesn’t have to be fancy to attract customers, just good. “The most popular breakfast is bacon and eggs,” Shockey said. The first cup of coffee is poured at 7 a.m. six days of the week. Sunday is a day off.

Specials were not aligned with any particular day of the week. “I just cooked what I felt like cooking on any particular day,” Shockey said.

Memorabilia adorns the walls, but not in a cluttered way. “Anything Boston,” Jeanie said of her husband’s love of Beantown athletics. The Bruins, the Red Sox, the Celtics are all there, with an emphasis on Ted Williams, Teddy Ballgame, the Splendid Splinter.

And, of course, there on the wall is Coney’s native son, hall of famer Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove. It’s no wonder Cooperstown made room for the southpaw: 300 wins, career earned run average of 3.06 with 2,266 strikeouts. Grove’s most valuable player trophy is just down the street at the public library.

“I mostly enjoyed the people,” Shockey said of her almost-daily encounters with buns and burgers and fries and eggs and the faces into which they were eventually placed. “Hi Nancy,” she says to a regular customer as she reminisces.

Other than the 1990 fire that consumed almost a block of downtown Lonaconing, but was content to burn only the stockroom at Marshall’s, a quarter century of slinging hash hasn’t had any ultra-memorable moments. No U.S. presidents chowing down on pancakes. No movie stars ordering a Boston cooler. “We do get a surprising number of out-of-towners stop in for the first time, mostly during the summer,” Shockey said.

There is a 1999 clipping from the The (Baltimore) Sun on the wall highlighting the iconic mom-and-pop restaurant.

Four part-time employees have toted the slices of apple or cherry or coconut cream pies to the hungry diners or spliced a cherry fountain Coke to go.

Marshall’s has been an integral part of Georges Creek life for many.

“I remember when the San Toy Theater was still open, my dad would take us all to the movies and then we would always go to Marshall’s afterwards for a drink, maybe a chocolate Rickey,” said Elsie Robertson. Robertson said she or one of her siblings would be designated to leave the movie early to claim a booth at Marshall’s, thus outfoxing all of the other flick patrons who would also be seeking post-movie refreshments. “Then when I went to Valley (high school), after classes we would all head there,” Robertson added.

“I think people will miss Marshall’s,” Jeanie Shockey said. “We seem to have gotten busier once people heard we would be closing.”

Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.