Page 22 - April 2023 Issue.indd

Spend It In Caroline County It’s a tough row to hoe, running a small business. To make a
living out of a 500-1,000 square foot space seems implausible
by Bryan Gadow these days, yet friends and neighbors of yours are still doing it.
Somewhere, today, they are sitting there waiting for the phone
erhaps I don’t know you, but of this I’m sure:
to ring. Waiting for you, or I, to walk in the door. Oh, yes, I
you’ve been there, walked those streets, and
know the feeling. I was there, in my own little building, on a
met its citizens. Mayberry, USA. You have stood
side street. Folks would come to me with stories. “I had my car
within its businesses, its courthouse, maybe even

fixed at one of those big, fancy shops. They had it for months,
its squad car! In your mind, at least, you could
gave lousy service, and when I went to pick it up they’d done
Pbe there even now.
a terrible job! I really wanted to have you do that $10,000 job,
It was on a detour, once, that I steered my old truck towards Bryan, but…” But, they wanted to save a nickel, or have some-
Mount Airy, North Carolina. Young Andy Griffi th was born thing just a tad more convenient, that’s what they were telling
there, and years later found himself a rising star in Hollywood. me. In the end, my phone didn’t ring enough.

On a sound stage, folks built a small town to fit his memories. Can’t you just picture Sheriff Andy walking down Main Street

I’ve not been to California; I suspect it would leave me quite in Preston? Floyd the barber, clipping away in some little shop
cold. But the morning I spent in Mount Airy warmed my heart. in Greensboro? A fill-up with a smile from Goober Pyle at

More on that later.
a little gas station in Goldsboro? Mayberry is here, ready to
Ten seconds ago I checked Google Maps; in seven hours I can awaken. Back, for a moment, to Mount Airy. It’s about the size

be there, but it’s truly not necessary. The magic I felt those of Cambridge, with all of the troubles that face a town that size.

several years ago? I couldn’t quite pin it down, but I know now The real town, these days, is out on a four lane highway, with

that it isn’t just something in the water down there. Friends, I’ve strip malls and chain restaurants. Downtown? The locals don’t
walked the streets of the Green Garden County. Hidden just spend their paychecks there; it’s all about the tourist trade. I
under the surface, it’s here: that same something special. First, didn’t see anything down there that we don’t have right here.
though, I shall take a negative turn. Why are our downtown’s We have the ingredients. Truly, we have something very special.
sputtering? What brought their decades-long decline? I’m here Why, you’re holding part of it in your hands right now (or

to tell you, it is your fault...and mine! You and I kneel at the perhaps peering at it upon your screen.) The Caroline Review,
alter of the almighty dollar; in the spirit of saving a nickel, we itself, is a part of our charm. Flip through the pages and you’ll
bought that gallon of paint at Wally World instead of Denton see the names and faces of folks who, right this moment, are

Hardware. We bypassed Evey’s Appliances and bought that new at your service. There’s no ad here from Amazon, my friends;
refrigerator at Lowe’s. We could have filled our shopping carts at just hard-working, regular folks. Spend that extra nickel, and

Four Jae or Tri-Me, but drove to Food Lion instead. Once, you spend it in Caroline County. And tell your friends. Bring them
bought your shoes from the guy who coached the little league home. Home to Mayberry, Caroline County, USA.
team; the family who sold you your prescriptions were in the
next pew on Sunday morning. But, that pesky nickel. To Dover,
to Seaford, to Salisbury, you and I rushed off. Excuses: so far to

walk! I dare you. Dare you to park downtown and count your
steps. Compare them to how far you walk out at Denton Plaza.
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