Ed Moore retiring from local meat market in Coulee Dam

After 51 years of cutting meats professionally, Ed Moore is retiring from Ed's Meat Market. Located in the back of Harvest Foods, Ed's Meat Market has been a local staple for meat eaters for decades, and now Moore will be retiring but will stay available as a consultant for his coworkers who will be taking over the meat cutting.

Moore was raised on a cattle ranch in Benton City, and after graduating high school in 1965, began working at Moon's Grocery Store for about a year before joining the Navy, which he got out of in 1969.

He then went to a meat cutting school in Toledo, Ohio, getting a diploma in meat cutting, then got a job in Quincy at Akins Food Center where he worked for 10 years. 

A beer truck driver told Moore about the need for a meat cutter at what was then called Good Deal Foods in Coulee Dam. 

Moore was happy to move here in October of 1979 because of the nature of the area. 

"The country is gorgeous," Moore said Monday. "The lakes, the view - the Coulee is such a beautiful place. It really is."

Moore began leasing the space for Ed's Meat Market starting May 1, 1983, having studied business earlier at Wenatchee Valley College while living in Quincy.

Explaining the difference between a butcher and meat cutter, Moore said a butcher typically would kill the animal and cut it into larger cuts or "primal" cuts, and the meat cutter will cut those into the pieces sold to the public.

"It's just fun for me," he said about the meat cutting profession. "The memories I have are with customers, taking care of customers. It just puts a smile on my face when I know that I'm on their table, with a nice cut of meat or steaks on the barbecue, I'm there with that. I really feel happy about that. That's what I go to work for."

Moore has cut animals ranging from the usual cows, chickens, pigs and fish, to deer, elk, bear, cougar, sheep, goats, and more.

His personal favorite cut of meat to eat is a rib steak or New York steak, which he enjoys medium rare.

Around Christmas time, he said, he sells about 1,700 pounds of prime rib, and gives people advice on how to cook it.

He makes his own jerky and sausage, smokes his own meats, and generally knows how to cook and enjoy it. 

Barry Peacock, a longtime friend, said that some of his favorite memories with Moore are from hunting for deer or turkey with him. 

"He'd always have some sausage and jerky for ya that he'd smoke up, and that was a good snack when you were out hunting with him," Peacock said.

Moore has "done a lot for the community through the years, not just in his job," Peacock said. He has helped do barbecues for school sports, given away meat to people who needed it, and is "overall a good guy."

In retirement, which starts at the end of this week, Moore said the first thing he's going to do is go to the Grand Canyon and take a helicopter ride there.

He also plans to travel with his wife Sheryl, along with his fishing pole and cook stove, catching trout from lakes and cooking them right on the beach.

He will continue to buy primal cuts of meat from the store and cut them up at his home.