Butch Remembers Local Businessmen…Part II

  In my last column I told about a few of the business owners on Main Street of my hometown when I was a youngster. Here are some others…

   At the corner of Main and Franklin streets was the cigar store, better known as “the pool room.” Damon “Skeet” Wray owned it for many years, but Rufus “Med” Mullen and his son Bob owned it after Skeet’s death in the mid-‘50s. Haskell Renick also owned it at one time. The store sold tobacco products, candy, ice cream and other odds and ends. There were two billiard tables in the middle, and poker tables in the back. I usually bought an ice cream cone and then watched my Dad play pool against others to win “pool chips,” each of which was worth 5 cents in trade. Rufus was kind of quiet, but always friendly. Boys had to be 13 years old to play pool, but he let me play if no one else was in there.

   The Farmers and Merchants Bank was located on the south side of West Main. Penson “Pense” Larrick was the head cashier as long as I could remember. The two long-time tellers I remember were Marirovene Thompson and Elizabeth Love, although there were others who worked there through the years. I never had an account at the bank, but sometimes Dad would send me there to get change or make a deposit. Pense usually called me “knucklehead” in a kidding way. During the noon hour, he walked to the pool room, had a Coke (possibly with a smidgen of whiskey added), and played poker. In 1970, a bank robber locked Pense and the other employees in the vault. My cousin, Mike Cohee, entered the bank, saw no one around, and heard pounding on the vault door. Pense yelled instructions to Mike, and he was able to open the door! And yes, the robbers were caught later.

   The Cox Standard station was located at the intersection of Main and Madison streets. The owner was Alexender “Alec” Cox, who had been a teacher and coach at Darlington and Linden. He was a brother to Byron Cox, the first Montgomery County soldier killed in WWI. In addition to selling gas, petroleum products and small car parts, he also sold tobacco products, candy, chips, etc. He also sold used cars in the garage section. This was a prime meeting place for men in the community, especially local farmers. Alec had hundreds of jokes and stories, and was quite the entertainer. If a fellow was having a bad day, Alec could cheer him up in short time! Larry Binford purchased the station in 1964, sold Citgo gas, and did car repairs. He also carried on Alec’s tradition of friendly service, jokes and stories!

   Louis “Joker” Conrad owned the Shell service on West Main for over 30 years. Joker was an excellent mechanic, and he was assisted by his son-in-law Alva “Alvie” Gilliatt. Whenever Dad needed a flat tire repaired, he always headed to Joker’s and Alvie’s place. I knew for sure they were going to tease me and joke with me, but I actually enjoyed it. When Joker passed away, Alvie purchased the station and ran it by himself. Alvie could diagnose a problem with a car in seconds. Dad told me that Alvie never charged enough because he was just too nice!

    Next time….some more recollections…Part III.

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 36 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.