The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

A little Good on a busy day

Blind snack bar operator puts trust in others

State plane cleared by FAA to fly again
2/10/12
Ohio to dedicate $75M for demolishing abandoned homes
2/10/12
County candidates seek to sway voters at forum
2/9/12
Franklin may leave joint EMS group
2/9/12
Ohio leaders preparing defense of bases amidst closures
2/9/12
> More headlines

By Josh Sweigart, Staff Writer Updated 8:39 PM Sunday, August 30, 2009

HAMILTON — Butler County Administrator Tim Williams could live without his daily three to four Diet Coke habit. Or he could get his fix from a vending machine. But then Williams would have to go without his visit with Judy Good.

“I think she’s an inspiration,” Williams said. “I like to just go down and support her.”

Good, who is blind, runs Judy’s Snack Bar in the lobby of the Government Services Center in Hamilton. It carries an assortment of snacks, sandwiches and sodas. And Good teaches the occasional life lesson.

In her 35 years running concession stands, Good has had people try to rip her off — one person even reached over the counter and tried to empty her register — but she responds with pity and prayer.

“I just feel like if they need to do that, they probably need the money worse than I do,” Good said.

“I think a person can do most likely anything, in spite of their handicap,” said Mary Sweet, who works for Good, along with her husband, Claude. “It’s a matter of other people looking down on them and taking advantage of them.”

This is a message Mary Sweet keeps in mind as she cares for her 6-year-old granddaughter, who has autism. And she said she hopes to give her granddaughter the tools to succeed and watch out for those who would wish her harm.

The Sweets play an important role at the store, stocking the shelves and letting Good know where everything is.

In addition to the snack bar, Good operates several vending machines in the government buildings. It is a far cry from her modest beginnings 35 years ago. Recently married, she wanted a job. So she contacted the Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission, which put her in touch with a job selling candy at the Hamilton post office.

“At that time I was selling coffee for a dime a cup,” she said.

Over time, the concession moved to the old county courthouse, the administrative building and now its current location.

The state gave Good a loan so she could go into business for herself. It is no handout. She pays a fee every month to help support other people with disabilities going into business for themselves. And she is on the hook to pay the whole thing back, “if I ever retire,” she said.

But with the nation in recession and layoffs perpetually looming in city and county government, Good said business is in an unprecedented slump.

“In the 35 years that I’ve been doing this, it’s never been quite like this,” she said. “People are buying snacks and candy bars, and bottles of soda, and things like that instead of buying food.”

“I think it’s because they’re watching their money so closely and they’re also not sure, being in the county and the city, they’re not sure what their job is going to be,” Good said. “They’re hanging onto their money.”

Good said there has been the occasional suggestion of shutting down the stand and replacing it with vending machines.

“I’m too people oriented,” she said. “I like my customers, and if there’s anything I can do to keep that from happening, I’d do that.”

And she’ll get by, she believes. She has faith in God, whom she credits with empowering her to run a successful business even when life took her eyesight away.

“Judy is our prayer warrior,” said Pastor Barbara Dafler of the Park Avenue United Methodist Church where Good is a church leader. “I can call her and say that we have someone in need of prayer and give her a name and she just prays constantly.”

Good says she’s not looking to get rich. She just hopes she has a positive impact on people’s lives. “I’m not making a lot of money, but I enjoy what I’m doing,” she said. “I know that God gives me the strength to deal with whatever happens to me. If I have some other misfortune, I know that he takes care of me.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or jsweigart@coxohio.com.

Share this article