Ready for the season The Jacklegger’s Mercantile is ready for the seasonal visitors that flock to the mountains. Above, left; The view from the street of Jacklegger’s Mercantile. Above, right; Christine Gilbert, the matriarch of the family that now owns the Jacklegger’s Mercantile, talks about the history and current affairs at the store. Bottom, left; The back room is full of treasures and souvenirs. PHOTOS BY KIRK C. WATKINS[/caption]
As the changing season approaches that brings many more people to the mountains, be they on foot, in cars, or on bikes, many businesses in our mountain communities welcome the influx of tourists. It’s the financial lifeblood of many local businesses and towns.
One such community is Ward, located just East of the Brainard Lake Recreation Area, off the Peak to Peak Highway. In the center of town, the Jacklegger’s Mercantile had been a mainstay for many years. It is now owned and run by Katrina Pattridge, who along with her family, has been a fixture in the Ward community for almost thirty-five years.
Christine Gilbert, Pattridge’s mother, was recently tending to the Jacklegger on a Thursday afternoon. She spoke about how she and her family had originally found themselves in Ward. “I moved out here from California, and I lived in Four Mile, then I lived in Nederland. And then one night I went for a drive and came over here and went ‘Oh my God,’ and I’ve been here ever since.”
She says that while she has been living in the Ward area for many years, and Katrina was born and raised in the area, her father-in-law lived there before her, and now she has grandchildren being raised in Ward as well. Their roots run deep.
“We lived out in the woods, she was born out in Nederland, her brother was born in Four Mile, I had another one from California that passed away when he was in a wreck right up here on the highway,” she said, “so she’s been here her whole life. And they have two that are eleven and fifteen, and they can run the store like nobody’s business.” She adds that while they can run the business, she lives right across the highway and if anybody causes trouble they can always “call grandma.” Gilbert recounted a story of a customer who had tried to cause trouble at the store and fearing that her son would get in trouble by confronting the man, shoved him out the door herself.
Her family has spent much of the winter season upgrading and renovating the store, preparing for the influx of visitors that inevitably will come. However, the store stays open year-round to serve the needs of the local community. “If they need stuff, sure. She tries to have stuff for campers, for vehicles, for emergencies and stuff like that. Local artists have stuff here.” She pointed to a rack of locally made blankets and picked one up that she had made herself. “She supports a lot of people in the community that way.”
And as the seasons change, and the warming air starts to open the trails, the area quickly fills with recreationists.
“We do more business with bicyclists, then with the locals,” she said, “and that’s where most of our business comes from, the bicyclists and the people that come up and camp.” Jacklegger’s is no different than the other businesses in the region that depend on seasonal visitors. “It slows down tremendously in the winter. That’s why she got the stuff done when she did, was to gear up for the summer, because it gets crazy busy.”
The daily visitor increase means a lot to the tiny towns, which for Gilbert and her family will be especially significant due to the devastating economic impact that the pandemic made on small businesses over the last two years. She explained that Pattridge hopes to draw customers by expanding her food options, including sandwiches, brats, hot dogs, and breakfast burritos. “I tell you what, that’s a breakfast burrito,” said Gilbert, “it’ll feed two people, it’s absolutely huge!”
She pointed at a substantially sized, foil wrapped burrito warming in the food display. As a burrito in the Rocky Mountains goes, the bar has been set high by the burritos that come before, and which have made the burrito, for some, more of a quixotic quest than simply another snack option. The burritos at the Jacklegger looked to have been hewn from the same solid stock that the mountain folk that occupy these communities are made of, and her claim that it could feed two seemed to be a claim worth testing.
However, the Elk brats were a temptation that could not be denied, and so I picked one from the warmer. Spicy, savory, cheesy(!) and delicious, the Elk brats were so much better than I could have imagined. Indeed, the Jacklegger’s Mercantile has some worthy food options for hungry folks traveling through Ward. They also carry a selection of cold and hot drinks, and snacks, as well as the inimitable pies from Karen DeVincenzo, a.k.a. the “Pie Lady.”
And if you’re looking for a treasure to take home, Pattridge has an area to the back of the store that carries movies, t-shirts, candles made by Namaste Home, glass pipes, and other souvenirs, mostly made locally. It’s worth the time to peek into the Jacklegger’s Mercantile to grab a bite or see what mementos are available.
The Jacklegger’s Mercantile is located at 62 Utica Street, Ward, Colorado. Check out more information on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057219409013 or give them a call at 303-459-1010.
