Sharing my favorite photos from my camera roll from this past year. Hope y’all enjoy!
2021 Favorite Photos
Tag Archives: Wilkes County Hardware
The Warmth & Sweetness of the Winter Chill
The smell is distinctive… burning hardwood, and the aroma lingers inside our walls. That “smoky” odor of winter. Some people long for it each winter. The wood stove is an iconic part of our legacy and our history.
Our old classic wood stove has definitely kept that “Old School Hardware” feeling in place for our customers and also for us as business owners. This is one great thing about our store that I love… it is deeply rooted in local history.
Our wood stove is definitely one of the most recognizable features within the hardware store that people initially see once as they walk into the front entrance.
No matter what time of year it is, those who have never visited our hardware store, always ask about the wood stove. Hands automatically seem to go up in order to signify the sensation of warming by the stove, even in the heat of a summer day.
That sensation of warmth often brings back a burst of wonderful “old school hardware “ memories… and then you see the smile emerge on the faces of those who visit with us. The love of our “old school hardware store” grows💕.
Our hardware wood stove history dates back to circa 1930’s-1940’s. Nollie Neill, a Glascock stove historian, has been a wonderful source of information for me. What we know for sure is that our “old school” wood stove is a Giant 24N model made by Glascock. This model was not put into production until the mid 1930’s. Glascock Stove was located in Greensboro, NC.
A bottom piece of our stove needed replacement in the 70’s. The stove maker, Glascock, was no longer in production mode. The last 24N rolled out of the Greensboro foundry in 1966.
Harvey, the hardware store owner at the time, headed down there anyway to the “graveyard” of old replacement parts and found the exact piece he needed to get the stove back into service.
Customers are usually curious about our Giant 24N wood stove. A few typical customer questions range from “Does it still work?” to “How old is it?” And most folks are surprised to find out the wood stove is WCH’s main source of heat in the winter!
Our hardware store Giant 24N wood stove cranks out a great deal of heat for the store. These models were designed to heat stores, schools, homes, garages, larger spaces that needed a good source of heat. Glascock met the demand all across NC.
Before the cold temperatures hit each year, the wood stove is regularly cleaned, polished, and maintained in order to keep it in the best possible condition for daily use in the cooler weather.
We do keep a nice woodpile out behind the store so we can keep the “store fires” burning and our customers comfortable while they shop for essentials.
All of our wood is bought from local sources. Richard & I like to purchase products from our neighbors in our community.
Our hardware store wood stove has become a gathering place for those in our community. People use it as a central meeting place to discuss news, and local events. Often our regular customers will come sit around the stove and just rock for a little bit before heading back out into the cold weather.
Even during local downtown events in the winter our customers know they can drop by to warm by the fire before a horse carriage ride, stop in during Lightup Downtown, or just to wait and warm before for the Christmas parade is to begin.
To me, nothing is better on a cold, and snowy day to be warming around the wood stove. Locals seek to visit with us on these days, roaring fire always going & snow supplies in hand. Honestly, these are my favorite days.. the snow days around the wood stove at Wilkes County Hardware.
We even have had a few local media broadcast/advertising folks to showcase our store via the hardware store wood stove as a centerpiece. I guess it is just that “Old School” way of gathering around and slowing down in the busy world we live in today.
I’ll take “Old School” any day, going back to our roots/heritage— community building, & living at a slower pace. It has become an essential element of #thehardwarelife.
Stories…Our Legacy
My last blog post commanded attention from my readers who connected with my story about Waiting.
The messages sent to me were powerful, with beautiful scriptures, kind words & your personal stories of experience made my heart melt.
So many people who have battled cancer that I connect with everyday as a business owner reached out. Their stories they shared with me were amazing & a beautiful blessing. Thank you so much for sharing your stories with me.
If you haven’t read the blog post, Waiting, I would love for you to click back and give it a read. We all go through periods of waiting in life. Waiting on test results, waiting for changes in a career path, or just waiting patiently on God to show you a pathway.
As I said before, my experience was not unique, but I chose to share it because I felt it would create common ground experience for many ladies who have walked in the path of waiting for test results OR seeking answers to any type of situation/problem.
Writing is a dynamic way to connect with others. As a blogger, that influence extends across our community & even across the globe.
Storytelling goes well back into history. In the days before novels & books, stories were shared orally, musically or artistically and passed down through the generations. Stories help us to keep our past history alive, & keep us linked together.
I had a professor in college who was a gifted storyteller. US History was revealed to me as a story of events & the people behind it.
As an educator, the most powerful thing you can do is to connect your content to the student. Once the student gets the practical connections, the path learning is much easier.
Often as a hardware store owner, we are privy to a portion of a person’s story. The struggle of a DIY, pool ownership (the good, bad, & the ugly 😂) and even the success of a beautiful garden.
The longer Richard & I have been in downtown North Wilkesboro, the more folks we have had the opportunity to meet & get to know a small portion of their story.
This week we met a gentleman who came by for a few keys, & he stayed to visit for a while. His story began to unravel. He told humorous stories which all made us laugh. He also revealed that his wife died this summer, she had a serious form of blood cancer.
My heart hurt for him. It was obvious he missed her tremendously. Once he told us his story, we understood more about him, his needs and empathized with his current situation.
So how do we share our unique life experiences in 2021??? We are all not bloggers, writers, gifted musicians, artists, or storytellers.
Do you look at Instagram stories???? OR Facebook stories, Snapchat, or even Tik Tok??
In the world of social media, we now have these little bits of video & images on our profile page called stories. The intent of those images is to give the viewer a quick glimpse of what is going on the “inside”of the life of that specific social media page.
After 24 hours those stories disappear and you must continue to add more of your own images in order to keep your story going.
Stories give us a way to stay connected to friends and family. A way to share triumphs, celebrations, fun times, sweet moments & even sad events in our lives. All are a significant part of living our lives.
Many of us are not public speakers who go across the country sharing their stories with others creating change. You may not be gifted storyteller OR even post out Facebook/IG stories everyday.
Your personal story & experiences create change just by sharing!!! Do you journal everyday? Share your family stories with younger generations???
We all share our life experiences with others… how are you sharing your story???
Our life stories cause us to adjust, change, & can create empathy for others who have faced similar experiences.
What I have learned as a blogger is that you should not be afraid to share your story. Your personal story creates bridges to others… connectedness. If you don’t tell your own story now, someone else will later…
Our personal story is why we are here. Your experiences could become a survival guide for someone else who is struggling with the same thing.
My wish for you… find a creative outlet for your unique personal story.
Go tell your story, inspire & encourage others.
Nailing Things Down
Six years ago we began our journey into hardware store ownership. It was an exciting time, a plan was emerging from our minds on what we envisioned happening in our new business.
Our official name became Wilkes County Hardware. Many folks still refer to us as Wilkes Hardware and wonder where Harvey is… lol he hasn’t owned the hardware store for many years. Gerald Lankford owned the store for 10 years before selling it to us. Harvey was the owner before Gerald.
Gerald stayed with Richard for the first year so that he could learn all aspects of the business, including the pools.
The first year is still pretty much a blur… we decided to add a point of sale computer system instead of a basic cash register so that inventory could be monitored closely, & new fixtures went in. A major highlight of year one was the filming of our hardware store on NC Public TV.
In the next few years, we added staff, continued to add new products into our lineup. One neat find inside our walls … when we opened up a space near the front entrance and found two doors that had been covered up for many years with pegboard. The captions that follow along with the pictures will chronicle the rest of our story.
A Flood of Memories
This past week marks a year of the flooding of our hardware store, August 13, 2020. I just realized that I never shared any pictures or stories on my blog about that day.
The afternoon had proved to be uneventful. We had a sudden downpour of rain. It lasted for several minutes. What we didn’t realize was that the drains in the back parking lot couldn’t keep up with the tremendous amount of rain that was coming down.
Our neighbors at Wilkes Lock Service were gone on a service call, which was not unusual. Their building was locked up. As the water continued to rise, the back door was pushed open by the flowing water.
The water was rising quickly and was knee high inside the lock shop before we were able to get through the heavy metal door that separates our businesses. It was blocked with debris and we were not able to keep the water from flooding into our business.
Panic set in. Water was everywhere. What could be moved easily and salvage??? In a stroke of luck I grabbed Richard’s computer bag. He had dropped it earlier in the day and left it behind the checkout counter before the water hit hard in that area.
Our staff was few… Richard had left to run an errand. One quick phone call brought him back instantly. I’m very thankful for Luke… he came in from his day off and began dealing with the lock shop front door to release the rising water.
The next few hours are still a blur. Friends rallied to help us. We all worked late into the night pushing water outside our doors, running a buckets from the empty elevator shaft to the front door. Fans & dehumidifiers were set up strategically in order to efficiently dry our floors and everything else.
We opened our doors to our customers the next day. It wasn’t a normal day, but our customers were kind and gracious.
The storms of this past week brought a lot of anxiety about this past experience. But there are some things we don’t have control over… flooding, tornadoes, etc. It is a hard reality when it is your livelihood & business.
So in closing, I’ll share an update on progress… Usually during every major rain storm, the town street department swings by to check on the drains. Thankfully, we have been very blessed without any breakthrough water issues. And this past May, the town has completed a major project at our back door to help the flow of water.
I’m deeply humbled. Our friends rallied to help us in a dire situation. We receive phone calls from a very kind individual every time it rains for an extended period of time. Our customers drop by to check to see if our store is ok after a hard rain.
The flood of emotions are real… it is still close to our memory… every heavy rain storm we worry still …but the kindness of our community has been an amazing gift.
The Hardware Life - A wife's journey into the hardware business 