25 Jan Pawling’s Family Quick Stop: Fueling the Pawling Community for 30 Years by Amy Emke

In small towns across America, the corner store is the heart of the community: the place to get everything you need, from gasoline to groceries to a hot lunch to the latest gossip.  Pawling’s Family Quick Stop is no exception, and maybe even more so, thanks to its owner Henry Schaber.

      Lots of people in town know Henry.  Henry supports the local sports teams, gives many Pawling teens their first jobs, and is an active executive board member of the Pawling Chamber of Commerce, where he leads the Merchants Committee.  Even if you don’t know Henry, you might recognize him as “Cardboard Henry,” the smaller cardboard cut-out of Henry that the Quick Stop uses to advertise their daily hot food specials on social media, a clever marketing campaign in which various patrons and members of the community pose with “Cardboard Henry.”

       The Family Quick Stop has recently passed a big milestone: they’ve now been in business in Pawling for 30 years!  As a long-time patron and fan of the Quick Stop, I jumped at the chance to ask Henry for an interview, so that I could learn more about its history in Pawling.

     We sat down for a chat at one of the tables in the dining area at the back of the store, surrounded by photos of past Pawling High School Football teams and Pawling’s Annual Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day Parade, two local institutions that are dear to Henry’s heart.

      I started by asking Henry how he decided to open the Family Quick Stop and what it was like when he first started it 30 years ago.

      “When we first took it over, my partner at the time–he used to be my bread delivery guy when I had a family deli in Mt. Kisco–he said, ‘You have to take a look at the deli in this town where my wife is a counselor.’  I said, ‘What town are you talking about?’  He said, ‘Pawling,’ and I said, ‘What’s Pawling? Where’s Pawling?’ So we came up here and took a look, and it’s a nice little town, quaint, and I looked at the bills that they had, and I thought this had a lot of potential.  But he (the former owner)  was not doing the right things at the time–he was microwaving eggs, the meat case was half the size, there were no hot foods–and I thought, we could make something out of this.  So we jumped into it 30 years ago, and so far, it’s been going fine.”

      That was back in 1993, when Henry’s son Tyler was about a month old. Tyler and his sisters grew up in the business, and Tyler can often be found behind the counter, making food and helping to run the Family Quick Stop.

       The deliciousness of the food at the Family Quick Stop is sort of like an “insider secret” for Pawling folks, maybe because most people assume that food from a gas station couldn’t possibly be that great.  I developed my own fondness for Pawling Family Quick Stop food when I was a teacher at the Sunshine School across the street about ten years ago, and started buying lunch there with my fellow teachers.  Not only are their deli sandwiches generously proportioned, their hot food is excellent too.  I have a friend who loves their Italian Wedding Soup so much that she calls them regularly to see if it’s available that day.  I’ve always wondered who cooks all of their delicious hot food, so I asked Henry about it.

      “We have a lady who cooks for us now named Nereida Rivera. She cooks here early in the morning–she does a really good job with the different kinds of tacos and beef stews and things like that. And also my son will cook, I’ll cook and make salads…we all make salads sometimes.”

        I asked Henry what he likes the most about having his business in Pawling.  Without hesitation, he answered that he likes the people here. After commuting from Putnam Valley for many  years, he bought a home in nearby Patterson after his youngest daughter graduated from high school.  He said he enjoys the shorter commute, and also giving back to the Pawling community.

         Henry gives back to the Pawling community in countless ways; sponsoring local sports teams, raising money for local cancer charities, supporting  youth service projects, and organizing community events with the Pawling Chamber of Commerce Merchants Committee.  That doesn’t even include Pawling Family Quick Stop’s breakfasts for the Pawling High School Tigers Football team that he co-sponsors with local businesses, or the many individuals in need that he helps out along the way.

          With all of the things that Henry has done for the Pawling community over the years, there is one that will most likely stand as his legacy: “Pawling’s Unofficial Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.”  Now in its eighth year, this parade, touted as “America’s Shortest Parade” , has become one of the biggest events in Pawling, drawing almost 2,000 attendees last year.

           This year’s parade on February 24th is expected to be the biggest one yet, which is amazing, considering its humble beginnings. I asked Henry to talk about the origins of the parade, which he essentially started with a couple of friends.

          “A couple of friends of mine,  Kevin O’Connell and John Hughes, were hanging out, talking in the bar, and they got this idea to have a St. Patrick’s parade in Pawling.  Then a couple of days later, they asked me if I’d be the Grand Marshall.  I said, ‘Sure, why not? I’m 100% German, but I’ll put on a kilt and walk down there–I’m always up for some fun.’’

       Just a short time later, an intrepid group of 7 people, including a bagpiper, marched down Charles Colman Blvd. while a handful of folks looked on. They didn’t advertise the parade, they just decided to go for it

      “When we got to the end of the road in front of McKinney and Doyle, we were like ‘what do we do?’, so we played a song.  A couple of people came out of McKinney and Doyle to listen, including Bernie Williams, and it was just a great time. The next year, the Pawling Fire Department joined in, and it’s just gotten bigger and bigger every year. Last year we added the free concert with the Nerds, and they’re coming back this year too.”

       This year’s parade on February 24th is expected to be bigger and better than ever, with free concerts from the Red Hots and the Nerds, Irish step dancers, some great food trucks, and of course, the parade itself, which now includes participants from many local organizations.

        I ended the interview by asking Henry about what the future holds for the next thirty years at the Pawling Quick Stop.  I asked if there was a plan for any of his kids to take over the business.

         “Tyler’s been here since he was in diapers,  but I don’t know that I’d wish these hours on anyone.  But, hey, if he wants it– he’s got it, 100 %.  It’s not an easy business, but it can be easy, when you have a lot of good people coming in.”