This is part three of a series featuring the Old Country Store.
I got a wonderful surprise a couple of weeks ago when Jerry Sudderth called me to say he was alive and well. I had not talked to him since the interview I did in 1988, and it was heartwarming to hear his voice. He is 82 years old now and going strong.
He invited me to stop by and see the second floor of the old store since I did not go up there the first time I was on the property. I pulled up in his driveway only to notice the nostalgic old cars and antique tractors that stand like rustic sentinels around the Brittain Farm, all reminders of a simple peaceful time.
I found Jerry sitting under a tree out behind the farm house resting a bit after harrowing his large garden spot. He was getting the ground ready to plant the two huge gardens that he is famous for.
I took two of my grandchildren with me, my 13-year-old granddaughter and 5-year-old grandson, and they were mesmerized by the contents of the store. Jerry was the perfect host and explained everything to them as they walked through history.
When we got up to the second floor, the walls were covered in every tool you could think of for that time period, and my grandson was in heaven, especially when he spotted an antique peddle car over in the corner. From the last known “bee tree” in Peachtree that Jerry cut with the help of Dock Sudderth, Uncle Bill Sudderth, Douglas Smith and Jack Raxter who collected the bees, to a “lye Hopper” table where you make lye soap, it was all fascinating.
“You used oak or hickory ashes and put them down in the table well and then you poured water over it and it would drip down through the bottom into a container, and you mixed that with the fat that you boiled off the fat meat. My grandmother would add sassafras to make the lye soap smell better,” explained Jerry.
The fact that everything has been preserved in this store that was opened by William P. Brittain in June of 1884 is beyond belief. It is a historical treasure that his great-grandson, Jerry Sudderth, has spent a lifetime trying to protect.
If our county commissioners have not seen this wonderful piece of history, they need to do so, and it would be nice to formally acknowledge Jerry Sudderth for his dedication in preserving the past.
Jerry’s memories of his childhood and this family farm continues to give him the strength to carry on and his love for this place shines like his smile.
Here is a poem I wrote several years ago that may describe how Jerry feels about his homeplace.
“I walked amid the falling leaves as they came tumbling down, with childhood memories close at hand a tear fell to the ground, for once I played beneath the trees and frolicked in the sun. I remember well the games we played, I loved them everyone. “The scent of pine waifed through the air, around the needled earth, appraising grounds of shady lanes, a fortune is its worth. Upon a log I sat and dreamed of a younger, carefree time, when life was like a passage through storybooks and rhyme. The years have swiftly counted by, for time is not to store, through loving eyes you look around and wish you had seen more. For the tender times of childhood games will melt away like snow, and like the dust of ancient winds, we know not where it goes.”
Kandy Barnard is a columnist for the Cherokee Scout. To talk about the Andrews Valley, call her at 361-3268 or email kandybarnard@gmail.com.