Wal-Mart Supercenter officially opened Wednesday morning
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[While all the fanfare of Wal-Mart's grand opening was happening, Carla Foster was buying a package of chewing gum.
Her purchase made Foster the first official customer of the new Wal-Mart Supercenter, which opened at 7 a.m. It also gave Foster a hat trick -- first customer at three openings.
Foster also led the pack at the openings of the Olney and Marion stores, according to a store associate.
Foster was among several who were waiting for the doors to open and the grand opening to begin. Some were curious about the interior of the store and the selection, while at least one looked upon the grand opening as a homecoming of sorts.
Joy Ann Pyle, who retired from Wal-Mart in 1999 after 16 years, has been looking forward to the opening for a long time.
"When I worked they kept telling us we were going to get a new store in 2004, then 2005, then 2007," Pyle said.
Many of the people who worked with Pyle are gone, she said, but most things remain basically the same from the perspective of an employee. Wal-Mart is still a good place to work, Pyle said.
"Wal-Mart has been very good to me over the years," Pyle said.
"I'd have to say Wal-Mart is a part of me."
The Harrisburg Supercenter is very nice, Pyle said, but the prettiest Wal-Mart she has ever seen is in Hawaii -- the store was decorated with a local flavor.
Morgan Evans, with her grandmother, Mary Ann Rivera, must have been just behind Foster in getting to the checkout aisles.
"My granddaughter wanted to be the first one in the store and the first one to buy something," Rivera said before the opening.
Evans didn't appear to be the only person showing up before school. Several Harrisburg High School students wandered in around the time of the grand opening.
Rivera agreed with others in saying the store looks basically like she thought it would.
Cheri Golish was on hand before 7 a.m. to give moral support to her sister, who works at the store. Golish was very excited about the opening, she said. The store is actually a little bit better than she expected -- the aisles are wider.
"And I like the fact that the women's plus department is right next to the women's department," Golish said.
"It's a very nice layout."
The new store is one of 10 statewide with this particular design.
"This store is a prototype," Manager Rhonda Bottoms said.
"We have wider aisles, clear lines of sight through the store."
As for the fanfare, the HHS marching band arrived between 6 and 6:30 a.m. to set up and march through the aisles at the grand opening. Flag twirlers led the marching band, which played a "Star Wars" overture and a County Basie tune to kick off the grand opening.
During the grand opening, Bottoms said $21,000 was donated to the community during a walk-through for city dignitaries last night. Among the organizations receiving grants were Harvest Deliverance Center food pantry, the Harrisburg Fraternal Order of Police Shop With a Cop, the Regional Superintendent of Schools Coats for Kids, Court-Appointed Special Advocates, Anna Bixby Women's Center, Saline County Senior Citizens Center Meals on Wheels, Saline County Sheriff's Department Drug Awareness program and $2,500 to the city of Harrisburg's Project Dignity to re-inter the bodies in the mausoleum.
"Starting from this day forward, that is our goal at Store 237," Bottoms said.
The opening of the Harrisburg Supercenter includes at least one first: The store was constructed, stocked and opened without any accidents.
"I had someone tell me that's the first time that happened," Bottoms said.
This is the third Wal-Mart location in Harrisburg -- the first was where the SIC Foundation Building sits now. Wal-Mart has been in Harrisburg just under 30 years.
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