Keep on Rock’n

Maria Rogers on moving day at her new, larger restaurant in Wellington.

A favourite Wellington eatery expands in new location

For 13 years, Rock’n Rogers was a mainstay of Main Street in Wellington, nestled in the heart of the village. Other diners came and went over the years, but this pizza joint became more than that. The family-owned casual dining spot carved out its own niche in the community in its tiny location.

Things change though, and when the opportunity to expand presented itself to owner Maria Rogers, she took it. Today, Rock’n Rogers opens in a new, larger location in the east end of Wellington. The wooden booths, which took up so much room in the old location, are dwarfed in the new, with other tables and chairs filling the space for what Maria hopes will become Wellington’s family restaurant.

The property has changed over the years, but it’s fitting that Maria has taken over the place where she learned to make pizzas two decades ago.

“This was Jiffy Mini mart. Bill Bailas [ran it]. We had the run of the place. We had a pizza business, we had the arcade, pool tables, laundromat— it was the whole place,” says Maria. “That is where I started learning how to make pizzas, a million years ago.”

Change is never easy, though. The thought of the empty storefront, where for so many years Maria started her morning, brings tears of grief to her eyes. As exciting as this new venture is, she has had to say goodbye to an old friend to embark upon it.

Maria met her husband, Bruce, in Trenton. She was from New Brunswick, he was from Toronto, part of an air force family. When it came time to start a family, the two decided it would be better to live in the County. For a while, they lived on a farm in Hillier.

When Bruce got a job opportunity in Ottawa, the family moved away—but they had County fever, missing the close and peaceful community they’d left behind. So they came back. That’s when Maria got the opportunity to buy Marie’s Pizza. With nothing but her experience at the Jiffy Mini mart to help her, Maria opened Rock’n Rogers, named after both her family and her love of rock and roll.

Her three daughters came to help her run the business, which grew in popularity as her family grew.

“Over the years of being there, it just gets smaller and smaller and smaller. We busted out at the seams,” says Maria.

As simple as the food is, Maria is offering something different in Wellington. “I’m old school, you know. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, that’s just me. There has to be that one spot where people can go and say, ‘I just want liver and onions, mashed potatoes and peas.’ I want to keep it that. I just want something down to earth.”

“The farmers come in with their cow poop on—I don’t care. There just needs to be one spot where it can be like that.”

A repertoire of regulars and cottagers alike grew faithful and left Maria with more memories than she can manage to summon. Some good, some bad. Like the summer night that turned into a whipped-cream fight that included half the town. Or the day she saved the life of one of her regulars.

“This one man— he’s like family to us, him and his wife,” says Maria. “He comes into the store one day, as he did every day. He’d come in, have his coffee, newspaper, scratch his tickets. So [one day] I looked at [my employee] and said, ‘he’s sleeping.’ She said, ‘oh, he’s just having a nap again.’ I said, ‘no, this doesn’t look too good.’ So I go over there, I said, ‘Lord, wake up!’” says Maria. She summoned a fireman, called an ambulance and her customer’s wife. “The ambulance came, I had to shut down the store—and he pops up off the gurney and says, ‘I’ll be back tomorrow!’”

She saw the tourism industry change, from Europeans to regional tourists as the County gained local notoriety.

“I wish I could remember half of the things that happened down there,” says Maria, fighting back tears. “Every morning for almost 13 years I’ve been going there, people waiting outside the store. When I die, I want my ashes spread on everybody in Wellington. Without the people in Wellington, this would not have happened.”

Over the years, Maria was given offers to expand, most recently to take over the Sandbanks Grill. But it had to be just right. It had to be a welcoming place for her family and for all families in Wellington. Finally, when the Main Street Grill was shuttered, she saw an opportunity she wanted to take.

The new location will reflect Maria’s style, decorated with 1950s rock and roll memorabilia, complete with a juke box and gumball machine. And of course, her signature pizzas, big cookies and snowsuit fund jar will stick around.

And while she will miss the old location and its memories, she won’t have the chance to miss her customers.

“You have no idea, the people that came to the store yesterday and lent a hand, older men coming and lifting stuff. Everybody was there. It’s amazing, it gives you warm and fuzzy feelings. Wellington Home Hardware: anything I need, they’re there for me. The girls at the pharmacy, Foodland, the bank—just amazing.”