Catching up with John Mikolajcik and Joan Bennett at Mid City
On Mid City Nursery’s first day in business, they made a grand total of 95¢. It was 1954, and the Mikolajcik family sold roses and fuschias, popular in those days. Today, prices at the nursery are still pretty good, and there’s an impressive variety. Mid City has enough fruit and vegetable plants for a family to feed itself, and everything a gardener needs from blueberry bushes and herbs to fertilizer and terracotta pots.
“They have the healthiest plants around,” said American Canyon resident Joan Bennett, walking up to greet longtime friend and Mid City co-owner John Mikolajcik on an overcast Wednesday.
Mikolajcik’s parents, John and Dollie, founded the business back when the only nearby shops were a Richfield Gas Station and Navajo Rug. The business is now owned by Mikolajcik’s son, Joseph, one of six brothers and sisters. Each one has spent time lending a hand at the nursery.
At 80 years old, Mikolajcik lives in Fairfield, but still works full time at the nursery. His only day off is Thursday. The time outside and staying busy keeps him young, he said. Plus, socializing helps — Mikolajcik can’t walk more than five feet without someone calling him over.
“It’s kind of like the city has grown up with the nursery and the nursery has grown up with the city,” said Bennett, remarking on Mikolajcik’s popularity. He nodded, recalling the days when American Canyon was mostly open fields and McKnight Acres was just being built.
After leaving the Marine Corps, Mikolajcik’s father, also named John Mikolajcik, worked for Union Oil, then the post office. But his biggest vision was a family owned and operated plant nursery.
Soil in American Canyon isn’t ideal. “It’s heavy clay,” said Mikolajcik. Good for growing rice, but not much else. In comes Mid City, with all the tools for building up soil or making a garden bed. The most popular items today are avocado trees. Mikolajcik said they sometimes run out.
Mikolajcik gestured toward the highway where cars and trucks sped by. As a kid, he loved going to the A&W a couple doors down. It’s now The Birria Spot.
“It was the old days when they actually had frosted mugs,” Mikolajcik said. “And the root beer was in it. It was really sharp.” Back then, Mid City was a hub for locals, with the bustling nursery doubling as a post office for years.
Mikolajcik was born and raised in Vallejo in 1946 in a house on Walnut Street. His parents met as Marines. Over the years, as the area drew more and more people and neighborhoods sprouted up, John Mikolajcik became determined to incorporate American Canyon as its own city, and is considered by many to be the “father of American Canyon.”
When she died in 2014, Mikolajcik’s late mother, Dollie, still had a set of Navy silverware she pilfered off Mare Island. ”We didn’t have a lot of money. Everybody did it,” he said. “We had a full set of silverware with ‘USN’ marked on it. That was the toughest silverware — you could dig holes in concrete with that thing.”
As a teenager, Joan Bennett moved to American Canyon in 1965 with her parents, who worked on Mare Island.
“It’s a wonder I’m still alive,” Bennett laughed. “All the stuff I did.” She would build makeshift boats off Vallejo’s shores, shovel horse neighbors’ manure to get a chance to ride and rollerskated all over town. “I was such a vagabond,” Bennett said. Mikolajcik nodded, recalling similar adventures.
When they moved to American Canyon in 1954, thanks to help from the GI Bill, the Mikolajciks put down $19 for their home. Rent was $19 a month.
Like kids today, Mikolajcik loved climbing around the wetlands area, where the Navy sunk a World War I-era destroyer called the USS Corry, a lead destroyer during the U.S. and British invasion of Normandy in 1946.
“They sank it up against the bank to keep the water from washing the bank away,” said Mikolajcik. “There’s one layer that sits above the water, and you can make your way down to that and fish off that. We’d throw out for bass, and flounders would be right along the edge.”
A few feet away? The dump.
“You’ve never seen a dump like this,” said Mikolajcik. “You’d back up right to the river and dump. It cost 50¢.”
The dump is no longer there, but methane emitted from the buried landfill continues to be used as a potential energy source.
So, how did Mid City stay in business for more than 50 years? “Customer service,” said Mikolajcik simply.
“People like you. They want your advice, they want your help,” said Bennett.
Walking out of his office, a customer immediately called over to Mikolajcik, looking lost. “We got a plant from this section, and you told us ‘Are you sure you want that? It gets kind of big.’ I can’t find it!” she asked. Nodding, Mikolajcik led her down a couple aisles and pointed to the plants she sought. She left with two.
