The End
As I approached Whitehead yesterday, I noticed a large number of cars and trucks parked on the shoulders of the road. Ok, I saw maybe two dozen vehicles but in Whitehead that easily qualifies as a traffic jam. As I turned off Pine Swamp Road onto NC 18, I noticed a large number of people in front of the Whitehead store. OK, I saw maybe three dozen people but in Whitehead that, by any measure, qualifies as a crowd. As I drove by the store, I saw Welter Hamm standing on a flatbead truck, auctioning of the contents of his store.
Yes, Welter, the auctioneer, is also Welter, the store owner. And, even though Welter is well past retirement age, it was a sad thing to see him selling off his stuff. Boxes from the ABC store filled with light bulbs and rat bait and cans of pork and beans were going for $2 to $5 a box. Nobody would bid a dollar for the ancient Naugahyde recliner and Welter gave it to somebody in the crowd for nothing. The old neon sign for Camel cigarettes, on the other hand, brought $30. Welter kept the tins of Sauer's sage for making sausage next fall.
The Whitehead store, built in 1946, had also served as the Whitehead, NC post office before it was consolidated into the Sparta post office. In addition to grocery and household items, Welter also sold tires and repaired lawn movers there. One of the last general stores in Alleghany County, its closing is one more ending to a more simple era and I hate to see it go. If you have ever been in one of these stores, a Hungary Hugo's with Exxon gas pumps out front under neon lights just isn't the same.
I stayed briefly and toured the store one last time. But I could not bring myself to buy anything because, in an indirect sort of way, the auction was another small victory for Walmart.
On the way home Sam and I were obliged to stop on Waterfall Road as a grouse hen marched down the middle of it at her own slow pace. What a beautiful sight and spirit restorative she was!
"If you are lucky enough to be in the mountains, you are lucky enough."
Yes, Welter, the auctioneer, is also Welter, the store owner. And, even though Welter is well past retirement age, it was a sad thing to see him selling off his stuff. Boxes from the ABC store filled with light bulbs and rat bait and cans of pork and beans were going for $2 to $5 a box. Nobody would bid a dollar for the ancient Naugahyde recliner and Welter gave it to somebody in the crowd for nothing. The old neon sign for Camel cigarettes, on the other hand, brought $30. Welter kept the tins of Sauer's sage for making sausage next fall.
The Whitehead store, built in 1946, had also served as the Whitehead, NC post office before it was consolidated into the Sparta post office. In addition to grocery and household items, Welter also sold tires and repaired lawn movers there. One of the last general stores in Alleghany County, its closing is one more ending to a more simple era and I hate to see it go. If you have ever been in one of these stores, a Hungary Hugo's with Exxon gas pumps out front under neon lights just isn't the same.
I stayed briefly and toured the store one last time. But I could not bring myself to buy anything because, in an indirect sort of way, the auction was another small victory for Walmart.
On the way home Sam and I were obliged to stop on Waterfall Road as a grouse hen marched down the middle of it at her own slow pace. What a beautiful sight and spirit restorative she was!
"If you are lucky enough to be in the mountains, you are lucky enough."
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