Betty and Ellington Peek celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26. She was from San Andreas, CA, and he was from Murphys, CA. They met at a dance in Mokelume Hill in 1950 and were married the same year. Ellington asked to take Betty home from the dance and she said yes. On the way home she told him to watch out for the big dip in the road but he was trying to impress her so much that he hit it going too fast.
Both their heads hit the ceiling of the pickup. He just laughed and she joined in. It has been that way ever since.
They first moved to Oakdale, CA, where Ellington worked at the Oakdale and Stockton Yards as a ringman. Then the Korean War started and Ellington was drafted. After serving in Korea for six months and Japan for six months, he came home. Ellington and Betty’s first son, Andy, was born while Ellington was overseas. When Ellington came home, he worked at various auction yards and for a meat company as a buyer.
After a short time in Susanville running an auction yard, he moved to Anderson and rented the old Shasta Auction Yard. He ran it for three years. Betty took the deposit for the first sale to the bank in Angels Camp where they had a loan. The Shasta Yard was doing well, but when a new auction yard was being opened north of Red Bluff, he was offered the general manager’s job and he took it. He was 28 years old. This job lasted only one year as the company put too many restrictions on him. He didn’t like the way they wanted things done.
[inline_image file=”113eb1dbd740422d87e3bf16efaeb8b1.jpg” caption=”Betty and Ellington Peek.”]
Ellington went from there to Elk Grove to manage the Maita Bros. Feedlot. He also started back at the old Shasta Auction Yard in Anderson, buying it this time instead of renting. After being home with their children, Betty started a western store at the yard. It was only open on sale day but it was a hit. In 1966, with the help of John Trisdale, they built the Shasta Livestock Auction Yard in Cottonwood.
Betty opened the Shasta Western Shop fulltime and even kept expanding it over the years. Even though she closed it in 2008 and retired at age 80, the store is still talked about. Ellington has not retired yet and still goes to work most days at Shasta Livestock and Western Video Market. He is 92 and Betty just turned 91. They are blessed to have four children, five grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
