HARRODSBURG, Ky. (LEX 18) — For 45 years, Charlie Martha has made the C&T Market the go-to spot for a chili dog and groceries in downtown Harrodsburg. Now, the market is entering a new chapter and making sure the man who wrote the last one knows what he means to them.
Charlie Martha has run the shop here on Main Street since 1979. August 9, to be exact. He wrote the date on the deli door the day he started.
"Sometimes it seems like two weeks and sometimes it seems like a hundred years," Martha said.
In the 45 years since, he's created a kind of community within the community.
"You come in and you see people that you know, that you went to school with, or your neighbors, or your coworkers," said customer Dawn Summerville. "It's just special because it's just like family."
"You know, if you walk in a place and someone knows you by name, you feel good, you know," Martha said.
You can buy whatever you might need to get through the day, some groceries and, of course, a quick lunch, but Martha's days at the market are numbered. He's sold the market to new owners, and he's spending January helping with the transition before fully embracing retirement. Customers aren't ready to say goodbye.
"He helps the community. If you're short on cash, he's always helped. Many people run tabs. Those people will be affected. They needed him," Summerville said.
The shop will still be here, and so will the deli in the back, along with his recipes.
"Well, I wrote them down and I've showed the new owners, so hopefully everything'll stay the same," Martha said. "A lot of them, I don't even measure anymore, just knew what went in them. A little bit of this, little bit of that, you know."
If you ask Martha, he says didn't do anything special, just treated people nicely.
"I didn't know people cared as much about me until I'm getting ready to leave!" he said.
Sometimes, though, it's those little moments of kindness that can reverberate for decades.
"It feels good. It still makes me feel part of them. I think I made an influence in their lives, which I like to do with everybody I cross paths," Martha said.
