By Julie Noyes
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RANGELY | When Rodger and Debbie Polley made the decision 13 and a half years ago to move back to their hometown and run the Rangely True Value store, they knew it would be a great place to raise their kids, but they couldn’t foresee the ways their business would grow both north and south of the store on their corner at the center of town. Additional space for appliances, a garden center and the lumber yard make True Value a one-stop destination for everything from a jigsaw blade to a lemonade. A friendly “red shirt” is usually close by to help you find your needle in the haystack. True Value’s check-out counter is the closest thing to the hub of our little town that you can find.
Rodger estimates it was five or six years ago that he and Debbie decided to open the garden center, something the community had been requesting for quite some time.
“We really try to cater to what our customers want. We get our flowers from a supplier in Denver that have been great quality. Our bushes and trees come from Salt Lake City,” says Debbie.
It seemed a natural fit to celebrate the beginning of the planting season and honor local moms with a Mother’s Day sale, an event they make bigger and better every year.
Saturday, May 13 at 8 a.m., 100 mothers can expect to take home either a bistro table or a hanging planter with a purchase. True Value will give away $1,000 worth of prizes, ranging from a lawn mower to a pressure cooker. At the hardware store, customers receive 20 percent off anything they can fit inside a five-gallon bucket.
Because the Rangely Community Gardens started about that same time, they benefit as well with a fundraiser during the event, which this year will be a bake sale from 8 a.m. to noon. True Value has also donated a barbecue grill for the Gardens to raffle off.
Bill Ekstrom from the Colorado State University extension office will be holding free classes all day in the garden center on topics such as planting, trimming and pest control.
“We’re hoping for good weather. It’s festive and people are excited to see their friends and start gardening,” Rodger said.