Here is a tribute from reader Susi to my good friend John Dixon who is retiring after running Tri-County Produce for 40 years and closing the business next month.

Hi Restaurant Guy,

I really hope that the City or some of the organizations John Dixon has helped do something to honor him and wish him a long and happy retirement. I remember him giving out free fruit at the early SBCAG’s bike week’s kick-off community breakfast on State Street. I saw in The Santa Barbara Independent 2010 Local Heroes that he did a whole lot more to make Santa Barbara a nicer place. But aside from that, Tri-County Produce was a great store for healthy food. My 34-year-old son remembers being a little kid watching orange juice being squeezed fresh while we waited. Stopping there was always part of a bike ride to the beach. At Overeaters Anonymous meetings 30-40 years ago, sponsors would tell their “babies” that Tri-County Produce was the safest place to shop. I think many of us in the community also remember his dad.

Anyway, what I’m getting to is that he said in his retirement announcement, that the store will be open until the end of April, and he asks that we continue to shop there to support local farmers and the employees. I was there today. Some few grocery shelves are getting a little thin, but there is still lots of fresh produce, fresh bread, and many, many other products. I was hoping you could remind your readers that this is likely the last chance to shop there. Maybe readers could leave a note or card to John, buy a reusable TCP logo grocery bag or a Tri-County Produce t-shirt (produced by American Silkscreen on Salinas St, another local company) and offer an encouraging word to those who are losing their jobs.

Can we send John off to retirement with a bang? I hope there is a community celebration planned and that I’m just out of the loop, but so many other places are closing…

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Susi

PS—I can’t believe they’d tear down Milpas Rusty’s and leave Starbucks. I’d rant, but I’ve already taken enough of your time.