It’s the end of an era in tiny Helmer

HELMER — For 30 years and one month, Sally Roberts has been greeting customers at the Helmer Cafe and Store with matronly affection.

“Hello, kiddo,” she said to one of the dozens of regulars who filed through the door Saturday afternoon to sign a giant going-away canvas and for a free ice cream social celebrating Roberts’ retirement.

“You hungry?” Roberts asked. “Find a seat.”

This little country store, located three miles east of Deary on State Highway 3, has a history that reaches back more than a century and a reputation for good food that radiates for a hundred miles around, Roberts said.

“This is an old-fashioned cafe,” Roberts said. “People come to enjoy themselves.”

Winding up as the owner of the only cafe and store in Helmer was far from Roberts’ game plan early in life.

She was raised in San Diego, Calif., and worked as a general manager and office manager for a large northern California architectural firm.

Her husband was a truck driver, but he lost his job and the family needed to find another means of supporting themselves. They came to Idaho to visit relatives and noticed the cafe was for sale.

“And I’ve never known a truck driver that didn’t want to own a bar,” Roberts said. “We came up and looked at it and it’s exactly what he wanted, so we got it.”

Switching from life in the corporate world to managing a cafe and bar was a major transition, but Roberts said she was helped by “some very nice young ladies. They taught me how to do it in an old-fashioned way.”

Meaning, “it’s an old-fashioned cafe that serves burgers and food and fun.”

The original store consisted of the small front square of the building where the counter and a few shelves of souvenirs and candy are now sold. It was located across the street from its current site, in the middle of a busy logging town. The store was moved to the present spot when the highway was paved.

A wall of historic photos on one of the back walls reveals a community of many more homes, a railroad, a post office and logging enterprises. The snow in some of the pictures is piled almost to the eaves of the houses, and single unplowed lanes snake through the town.

Everything inside the cafe is pretty much the same as when Roberts took over the business 30 years ago, although she used to sell wine, but now sells only beer.

“This is not wine country,” she said. “The bar business is a little bit different from the cafe business and I preferred the cafe business.”

But age and loss finally made her decide to retire.

“I’m 83 years old and my son (James Jeffrey Roberts) died in November and he was my help,” Roberts said. “I’m going to go home to the rest of my family who still lives in California, my daughter and my older son. I need to go back to family.”

Her departure is going to be hard on her granddaughter, Sarah Roberts, who has worked in the cafe for 10 years.

“I will miss her,” Sarah Roberts said, fighting back tears. “She’s my best friend.”

And the customers who visited Saturday said they also will miss her, although they wish her well.

“When the kids were little we would come up here to go hunting and fishing and this is the best place in the country to eat,” said Gary Hawkins of Lewiston. He and his wife, Janice, still visit the Helmer Cafe six or seven times a month, he said. They usually call ahead to order the roast chicken, which Janice claims is the best.

But the business will go on. Heather Stettler of Deary is taking over and, while she plans to honor the tradition and keep serving the famous Helmer burger — a half pound patty of meat, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and a slice of ham — she also has some plans to diversify.

“We want to add an espresso bar and update the menus a little bit,” Stettler said. “But we will keep the Helmer burgers because that’s a big thing here.”

Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.