Off the beaten path

There’s a little string of store fronts off the Post Road — the beaten path, one might say — in Darien.

Along with what you’d expect to see in town — coffee shop, eateries, shopping — Tokeneke Road houses some of the oldest-running businesses in town.

Johnny’s Records, founded in 1975, carries all your vinyl, musical collectible and vintage t-shirt needs. It celebrates Record Store Day and offers refreshments on the front sidewalk for both man and beast.

Also found on Tokeneke Road is “Chez Ernie’s,” formerly Ernie’s Bar. The century-old watering hole opened just after Prohibition, and miraculously survived the pandemic through creative means. For decades, many have created memories, or forgotten their memories (or wish they could forget them), after walking through what might as well be swinging saloon doors.

Not far away from Ernie’s is the Darien News Store.

My friend Bill and I on the day I picked up my last paper as editor on May 13.

Much like these other establishments, the Darien News Store offers resources for today while giving one a welcome blast back to yesterday. Like Ernie’s, the store also opened nearly a century ago.

These three store fronts are not what immediately come to mind when the general public thinks of “Darien.” For ease of stereotyping, most act like everyone in town is a replica of Ted Knight’s character in Caddyshack, ready to ask “Pooky” to christen the latest vessel the “Flying Wasp.”

After this many years in Darien, I can confirm that Ted and Pookys do exist. But the fact that these three businesses above remain stalwarts on Tokeneke Road mean there are many in town who choose the less beaten path.

This brings me to my friend, Bill.

Bill Frate owns Darien News Store, and his family has been notable in Darien for generations. There are several families that have generations of roots in town, but not many go as far and as wide as Bill’s does.

The Darien News Store is the old fashioned stationery, five and dime store, that includes remnants of Bill’s jazz photography days and a squawking bird somewhere in its deep-set recesses. He carries vintage toys and an eclectic holiday decor collection you’d be hard pressed to find elsewhere. And of course, newspapers, magazines and more.

When I surprised my daughters with a tiny paper-doll strung Santa garland on the mantel one year, placed there by the sly “Elf on the Shelf,” they were delighted. I was bummed when I lost them, so I tried to get a new one – for Bill to tell me the company went out of business in the 80’s. Nonetheless, he dug another duplicate out of his bag of tricks.

During the summer when school was getting ready to start, I noticed some Darien parents were having trouble finding school supplies due to pandemic challenges. I mentioned Bill’s store as a resource and realized some of them had never even heard of it or knew it was there. The sacrilege!

A pencil is still a pencil, even if isn’t purchased at Staples or Walmart. Bill managed to save a few people’s first day of school with supplies in hand.

More than that, as the last several years at the paper presented ever-evolving changes, Bill was always there. I went from having a large office on Corbin Drive with a lot of coworkers, to a smaller office with a lot of coworkers, to a smaller office with half the coworkers, to a smaller office with almost no coworkers, to no office and one coworker, to just me.

Throughout all those changes, my weekly visit to the Darien News Store on Thursdays kept me grounded and in a welcome routine. When we had a competitor, I could tangibly find out “how are we doing?” by comparing content and paper sales, with a resulting pat on the back from Bill. When paper deliveries had a problem, I’d find out before the rest of my colleagues when Bill would text me that they hadn’t arrived.

He’d give me friendly advice and additional color, for context purposes, to whatever the latest news was, background on local families and local properties, and feedback he’d hear from readers.

With no office, whenever people wanted to make sure they got a copy of their paper due to “My daughter is on the front page!” or whatever reason, I could always tell them Bill had copies and let him know. Sometimes he’d hold them behind the counter if it was important.

When a mother wanted the paper because her son, in the Marines, was featured on the front page placing a wreath for Wreaths Across America, Bill refused her payment and gave her extra copies — to thank them for their service and sacrifice.

In conclusion, what I’ll say is throughout my Darien tenure, I have found so many more people like Bill Frate than the stereotype. Bill had no personal gain to offer me a kind word or be a help to me over the last decade or more. He believed in community newspapers. And what’s more, he believed in me.

Telling him I was leaving the paper was hard. Luckily I got to stop by and visit last week.  And it certainly won’t be the last time. I need my red, white and blue vintage decor.

There’s a lot more to Darien than what it seems to project or evoke, for that matter. There’s a lot of history, quirky businesses, creativity, depth, and many passionate people with good hearts and giving spirits.

This is all easy to find.

You just have to venture off the beaten path