Submitted by Karl Breckenridge
A score of years ago when I was writing a weekly column for a local paper, I conducted, as was my occasional wont, a contest, to come up with the oldest business in the valley with a name eponymous with the owner’s name (and immediately took Harrah’s Club and Harolds Club – no apostrophe – off the list – too obvious).
It went well for a couple weeks, and then went in a hand basket with readers coming up with BS entries, like Two Guys from Hong Kong and Jake from State Farm. The contest went down in defeat, as do most of my contests. I do remember a couple of righteous names it produced: Johnson Chevrolet and Dunseath Key.
And another frequent entry, and watch here for this don’t-try-this-at-home tool of the practiced writer to turn the gibberish of the last paragraphs into solid writing; a segue into this morning’s column: a drum roll, please, for Shelly’s Hardware on Greenbrae Drive.
Shelly’s gets top billing this morning because I did them a disservice a few days ago, and intimated that they were closed due to this current quarantine.
They’re not. Shelly’s is open for business. It’s my hardware store of choice; nice people, helpful, with an unbelievable inventory in such a small space. Open. Daily. Sorry, Shelly’s, for doing that to you.
The store was opened by Sparks icon Carl Shelly during WWII – there’s an argument for 1942, 1944 or 1945. I’ll go with the latter.
While I knew Carl as a child knows an adult (he was born the year Sparks became a city – 1905) I wish I had confirmed that his motivation for starting Shelly’s Hardware was that his buddy contractor George Probasco started building homes on the eastern edge of Sparks after WWII and selling them like hotcakes to returning vets under their GI Bill. Carl foresaw a need for their DIY urges in their new civilian lives.
He had served on the Washoe County Commission, which post-war was three members, about the right size for a county commission. As such he was a strong proponent for the construction of Virginia Lake.
He was a Sparks council member after that, later a State Assemblyman, and with his Sparks-born friend Tom Swart was instrumental in the perpetuation of the Nevada Historical Society after the war, and of the Sparks Heritage Museum, now one of the best in the state (the museum, no way the society). And Shelly later – 1950? – owned and published the Sparks Tribune.
All in all, a heck of a guy – if John Sparks as governor could get the town’s name changed from Harriman, Carl Shelly did enough for the little city that it could have had a subsequent name-change to Shellyville. Sorry, Michael Fischer for that impropriety…!
(My friend Mike, a retired dentist and U of N SAE alum, does an excellent Chautauqua presentation of Gov. John Sparks.)
And where did Carl Shelly open his store? Well, of course, in what would become the Greenbrae Shopping Center, the first in Sparks and hard by the Green Brae Airport. In fact driving by Shelly’s Hardware, the balloon roofs of two hangers are quite evident these 60 years later. It’s hard to believe that there was an airstrip in the present parking lot of the center, with a single 1,100-foot runway 08/26, 200-foot overruns and served by a Unicom radio.
I took my first plane ride at the Green Brae Airport as a 7-year-old seated in my dad’s lap in the front seat of a J-3 Cub (the pilot flew from the back seats of older Piper Cubs, Stearmans, Curtiss Jennys, deHavilland mail planes and the like, but you knew that).
This is Reno space flees, so I’ll wrap it up. My writing partner Jody Rice’s dad, Del Rice, a popular dude around the valley for many years, is having a rough go of it – nothing to do with COVID-19 – so if you know Del keep him in your thoughts.
And, should you need something in the hardware vein, drop by Shelly’s Hardware on Greenbrae and pick it up – they’re OPEN! But don’t tell them I sent you; they’ll probably surcharge you.
C’mon back tomorrow – the weather’s nice, Mary S. Doten Elementary is still closed so Hank Philcox, Don Hartman and I will probably take our bikes and y’all on another bike ride around our hamlet. But – ‘til again we meet, six feet apart, for heaven’s sake, be safe!
Submitted opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of This Is Reno. Have something to say? Submit an opinion article or letter to the editor here.
Karl Breckenridge
Karl Breckenridge was slowly going nuts. So he decided to help out This is Reno by writing a daily out-of-his-mind column for the duration of the coronavirus shutdown. Now that it’s over he’s back to his usual antics, drinking coffee with the boys at the Bear and, well, we’re not sure what else. But he loved sharing his daily musings with you, so he’s back, albeit a little less often, to keep on sharing. Karl grew up in the valley and has stories from the area going back to 1945. He’s been writing for 32 years locally.Â
Read more from Karl Breckenridge
Cheers 4 – the Lear steam bus
The latest news on the Lear Theater has Karl remembering some of the Lear’s other projects, including a steam-powered bus.
Cheers 3 – the groceries II
Karl did not limit his column to ten items or less, so get out of the express line to read this history of Reno grocery markets.
Cheers 2 – the groceries I
Karl got a little distracted this week, starting off with a list of Reno’s great groceries of yesterday then slipping on some ice.
Cheers 1 – Of wine and Little Italy
Karl is back, making us all wonder why we didn’t spend more time during stay-at-home orders pressing grapes into homemade wine.
Day 75 – Karl’s retired to the Bear
From the get-go our pal Karl said he’d write “a short squib on a daily basis – nothing political, nothing controversial,” well, except for that one column.
Day 74 – the Truckee’s picturesque islands (updated)
Karl’s pal Jody shares the rich history of bootlegging, decorating, and engineering within the confines of the Truckee River’s banks and its picturesque islands.
Day 72 – Hobos, tigers and leprechauns
Karl recollects the series of eateries that drew diners to the corner of Virginia Street and Gentry Way for several decades.
Day 70 & 71 – in Flanders Fields
Karl shares a poem by John McCrae to mark Memorial Day.
Day 69 – The Nugget shark: John meets Jaws
Karl was talking about baby shark, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, long before the kids these days had ever been born.
Day 67 – What I like about Reno High
Karl, er, Carmine Ghia, writes an end-of-school-year essay to turn in to Mrs. Lehners about everything he likes about Reno High School.
Day 67 – 25 Bret Harte
Karl saddles up and heads to Newlands Manor where Western movies star Reno Browne grew up, and Lash Larue paid a visit or two.
Day 66 – Out for dinner we go
Karl goes out to eat at the El Tavern Motel, a truck stop outside the Reno city limits on the Lincoln Highway.
Day 65 – Dawn Bunker
Karl is back in action with a fresh story of which students of Mrs. Bunker’s class at Jessie Beck Elementary School still won’t spill the beans.
Day 64 – abducted
Karl Breckenridge called in to This Is Reno editors this morning with a hands-in-the-air, what-can-I-do sense of resignation.
Day 63 – Wedding chapels
Karl’s enjoying coffee with pals at the Bear, so today Jody stands at the altar to share the history of Reno’s wedding chapel industry.
 Day 62 – the mansion at 2301 Lakeside Drive
Karl’s 7-year-old alter ego rides his bike down to Virginia Lake to explore the Hancock Mansion, a nifty home complete with a bomb shelter, sunroof and doll collection.
Day 61 – Basque hotels
Karl wanders back in time to 1960, a time when multiple Basque hotels served up minestrone soup, English lessons, banking, and accommodations.
Day 60 – the bygone Greyhound terminal
Karl’s synapses are firing today after hearing mention of Reno’s Greyhound bus terminal on Stevenson Street, now razed.
Day 59 – Don’t tell Mom
Karl rewinds to Mother’s Day to share a story from the archive about Grandpas without a Clue and another ragtop adventure, by reader demand.
Day 58 – School stuff
Karl considers the value of a school name as the WCSD moves to rename one of the area’s older remaining schools and open a new one.
Day 57 – Pedalin’ around Vine Street
Karl rides his bike through history, remembering some of the places and people that helped to build Reno into the city it is today.
