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Volume 4, Issue 9 July 24, 2026
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America 250: Serving others in the land of opportunity Thank pulled at my heartstrings By Shelbie Choponis were working up here,” yoU recalled José’s daughter because we exist because The Oceana Echo
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Community Correspondent and current La Probadita owner, Maria Rosas. For more than 30 years “It started with a box of La Probadita has been tortillas we had brought woven into the fabric of them. The next week my this community by a fam- dad said he was going to ily whose roots are plant- go back. So they called ed in service to others. As us a couple of days beone steps into this Mex- fore and asked if we could ican grocery store and bring more tortillas. So restaurant in downtown Dad brought other stuff Hart, the vibrant Hispan- as well, and they ended ic culture instantly envel- up telling their neighbors, ops you. From the savory and they told their neighsmell of the authentic bors. So what turned into cuisine they make to the a family visit is what endshelves filled with a vast ed up starting it all for us.” In the late 1980s, array of colorful options General Electric in Holto the piñatas hanging land closed down, and from the ceiling, the expein 1990 José decided to rience is truly an immersive one into the tradi- move his family to Ludtions of Oceana County’s ington. While there, they provided grocery deliverHispanic community. In the early 1970s, José ies to migrant farms and Luna, the original owner families spanning across of La Probadita, immigrat- Oceana, Mason and Maned from Michoacán, Mex- istee counties. “Someone ico, to the United States. had lent my dad a suburStarting out in California ban, and it was a family and later Chicago, he affair,” Maria said. “So my eventually made his way mom, dad, brother and to Michigan. In 1975, he myself would come and was working in Holland go from farm to farm.” When Maria was 16, at General Electric, while he and his wife, Idriana, the Lunas moved from raised their two children, Ludington to Hart and opened La Probadita in Maria and José Jr. While still living in 1998. Originally, they Holland, the Lunas trav- were trying to decide beeled north to reconnect tween opening in Shelby with some of their rela- or Hart, but as Maria retives. “My dad actually calls, “I remember tellcame to Shelby to visit ing my dad that if people some distant family mem- come from Walkerville, bers that he found out they have to come down this road (State Street). And if they go to the Spanish Mass (at St. Gregory's Catholic Church), they have to come to Hart, and the post office and courthouse are right down the street, so I think this is where we should be.” At night, José would still deliver groceries to migrant camps to bring
Maria Rosas and her father, José Luna in extra money while the store was getting started. “On Sundays, we would be busier because people would get the day off, and they’d go to church, and then go to Walmart, and then they came to our store,” Maria recalled. Eventually, when La Probadita took off, José stopped running routes and helped out at their store. Once Maria had graduated from high school, José pushed her to go to college and experience more of the world. She attended Baker College in Muskegon for two years, earning her Associates of Applied Science degree. Soon after she graduated, Maria was hired at Ludington Hospital as a surgical technician. After her time there, she worked at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids and eventually became a travel surgical technician. “I got married to my husband Ramón in 2008. At the time, I worked at Shelby Hospital and ended up staying in the area. And not too long after that I had a baby,” Maria said. “So I had a baby, a job at the hospital, and the store, and I realized one of these needed to go, and the baby was not going back to where it came from, so I stopped working at the hospital and just stayed in
the store.” In 2010, José retired from La Probadita, and Maria took over as the new owner. Under Maria’s supervision, the store has undergone many changes. Some of which include central air conditioning, several new coolers, a new POS system and checkout lanes. When Maria first started, she also brought in her mother-in-law to start working as their chef in the restaurant. “Because of her, it’s gotten very popular. I think prior to that we didn’t have a big Anglo population coming into the store, but now we have people coming from all over to try our food,” Maria noted. Along with running the store, Maria is very involved within the community. She is on the board for both the Oceana Hispanic Center and Hart TIFA; is the head of the finance committee for St. Gregory's Catholic Church; and helps with the Hart Economic and Redevelopment Team. One of Maria’s most prominent passions is helping at the Hispanic Center. One of the center's main focuses is on DACA, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which gives immigrant children status to be in the country and not get deported. “It’s always
of the Hispanic community. They’re the reason our doors were opened, and I feel like I have to give back in that aspect, even if it's just going to their board meetings,” Maria said. Maria also continues to help migrant workers outside of La Probadita with her annual Spring Sweatshirt Drive. It started in 2021, when she stumbled upon another organization collecting sweatshirts for migrant workers. “When the workers would get bused in, they wouldn’t know how cold it gets up here. So we started collecting sweatshirts, long sleeves and even socks for them to wear while picking,” said Maria. “People started to drop off clothing at the store, and so I reached out to the organization to drop the donations off, but they said they already had a bunch. So I gave them out that year, and ever since then.” La Probadita, located at 19 S. State St. in Hart, is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week. "If the H-2A buses call and say they’re going to be an hour late, I’ll wait for them at the store because they’re not able to get groceries anywhere else at night,” Rosas explained. La Probadita is truly a friend to migrant families and the Hispanic community. The grocery store and restaurant have served through a message that Maria’s father, José, once said: “If I can come from Mexico with nothing, then you can accomplish anything because you live in the land of opportunity.”
América 250: Sirviendo a los demás en la tierra de las oportunidades Por Shelbie Choponis The Oceana Echo Corresponsal Comunitario Durante más de 30 años, La Probadita ha estado entrelazada en el tejido de esta comunidad por una familia cuyas raíces están plantadas en el servicio a los demás. Al entrar en esta tienda de comestibles y restaurante mexicano en el centro de Hart, la vibrante cultura hispana te envuelve al instante. Desde el olor sabroso de la auténtica cocina que preparan hasta los estantes llenos de una vasta gama
de opciones coloridas y las piñatas colgando del techo, la experiencia es verdaderamente inmersiva en las tradiciones de la comunidad hispana del condado de Oceana. A principios de la década de 1970, José Luna, el propietario original de La Probadita, inmigró de Michoacán, México, a los Estados Unidos. Comenzando en California y luego en Chicago, eventualmente llegó a Michigan. En 1975, trabajaba en Holland en General Electric, mientras él y su esposa, Idriana, criaban a sus dos hijos, María y José Jr. Mientras aún vivían en Holan-
da, los Luna viajaron al norte para reconectar con algunos de sus parientes. "Mi papá en realidad vino a Shelby para visitar a algunos familiares lejanos que descubrió que estaban trabajando aquí," recordó la hija de José y actual propietaria, María Rosas. "Todo comenzó con una caja de tortillas que les habíamos traído." La semana siguiente, mi papá dijo que iba a volver. Entonces nos llamaron un par de días antes y nos preguntaron si podíamos traer más tortillas. Entonces
América 250
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