BABAW KEEN'S COUNTRY STORE
Saturday afternoon found Mama and Daddy loading all four kids up for the trip across the mountain to visit both sets of grandparents, spend the night with one, and church the next morning. No one complained because one highlight of the weekend would be a visit to Babaw Keen's Country Store.
Keen's Country Store was located in the small community of Council, Virginia. The nearest small towns were several miles away and required crossing a mountain to reach them. Babaw's store was a mixture of a place to buy necessities, stop for a visit to pass the time of day and learn the news of the community, or a rest stop for travelers. There was a place to tie your horse in the shade or an old fashioned gas pump if you were lucky enough to have a vehicle.
You could buy anything from a bag of salt to a casket in Babaw's store. Entering the front door brought you into an area with an old warm morning coal stove with chairs and barrels around to sit on. There were usually a couple of folks visiting anytime you stopped in. Most folks called Babaw "Uncle John" showing respect, friendship, and acceptance. I thought for a while that we really had one large family!
One end of the store had shoes, clothing, and colorful material, mens hats, and just about anything you would need in drygoods. I stayed away from that section because Babaw kept a big black snake there to catch any mice that might get into the store. Grandma Sophie wasn't thrilled about going into that area either. For some reason, my young mind just knew that snake never left the drygoods area. I probably walked by it more times than I would like to think!
The storeage room was a little scary to me because there were usually a couple of caskets stored there. Back then folks brought their deceased loved ones home for visitation, to the church for the funeral, and on to a family cemetery usually located near the home. I learned years later that Mamaw Sophie steered clear of the store room too because the caskets made her uneasy. Babaw took full advantage of this and kept a bottle or two tucked away in the casket for "medicinal purposes" or to "chase a chill".
My favorite area was the grocery section. Folks would buy anything from a side of salt bacon to a plug of tobacco. The best thing to me was that Babaw had these big glass showcases with shelves filled with candy. They were taller than I was at age six and seemed enormous. Babaw always slid back the top of the old soda cooler to give us a cold drink, then would open the candy case and tell us to get whatever we wanted. Boy! What a treat! Countless days saw us leave with a full queasy tummy, big smiles, a loving pat on the head from Babaw, and him telling Mom it "wouldn't hurt the youngins' to spoil dinner once in a while". Now we laugh and say his generosity is the reason most Keen grandchildren have a sweet tooth and weight problem!
Our new supermarkets are wonderful, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to shop in an atmosphere of true friendship and welcome? How nice it must have been to combine the chore of providing family necessities with a visit with friends and neighbors. Sometimes I wonder just how much we have traded off for the luxury of convenience.
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