Cele store serves barbeque for last time

Cele store serves barbeque for last time

Written by Pamela Stephenson Monday, 07 January 2008

After more than a century of serving this community, Cele store closed its doors at the end of December. It was known as the Richland Saloon in the late 1800s, under the proprietorship of Gus Wendland. The store, located at the corner of Cele and Cameron roads in northeast Travis County, became a popular weekend barbeque place during the last half-century. Originally the store provided area residents with groceries, beverages, entertainment and supplies for farm equipment.

Early in the 1900s, Ewald Weiss took over operation of the store, serving the local farmers and their workers. Weiss’ daughter Ruth Pfennig remembers that “the farmers would get their farm hands on Sunday afternoons and they would come to the store to buy their groceries for the week. There were so many wagons and mules.”

Weiss would butcher his own meat and always had plenty to sell. Large quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables were available, along with big containers of goods from the Round Rock Cheese Factory (for purchase by the chunk) and fresh breads from a bakery in Elgin. Coal, shipped into Pflugerville on the train, was trucked to Cele for sale and cords of wood were cut right behind the store.

Along with the groceries, the store stocked farm equipment, spare parts and tools. Many of the original bins of the old bolts and screws remained in the store at the time of its closing and rusty farm equipment circled the grounds.

Often customers could not afford to pay their bills another of Weiss’ daughters, Janelle (Janie) Heine, recalled.

“Daddy just sold it on credit. At the end of the year if the people sold their crops and had money they paid what they could.”

She added, “He felt that everybody needed food. I know Daddy had a lot of money he never collected.”

A famous feature of the store was the bar. After long days working in the fields, farmers entertained each other with stories while drinking beer that was brought in by the keg from San Antonio. For 25 cents, patrons could buy a glass or schooner of the foamy brew. The store and bar have been featured in more than ten movies, including Second Hand Lions, A Perfect World and Texas Chainsaw Massacre I, II and III. Autographed photos of the stars — Clint Eastwood, Robert Duval and Kevin Costner — adorned the walls.

Since 1951 Marvin and Marilyn Weiss, no relation to the Ewald Weiss family, operated the store. Though the old building looked in need of paint and repairs, maybe even abandoned, it offered a view of the past. Patronized by families from all over the Central Texas area during its limited hours, from noon until 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the store offered barbeque. Served on butcher paper, the beef, sausage, and ribs were slow cooked in pits on the property. Although not yet ready to comment, the owners decided to close the Cele store last month, ending almost a century of business.

Cele store timeline

• 1891 - Richland Saloon established
• 1896 - Post Office opens in Cele - John Pitts Johns, postmaster Ewald Weiss takes over the General Store and Saloon
• 1930s to 1960s - Population reported at 25
• 1951 - Marvin and Marilyn Weiss take over the store
• 2007 - Store closes