Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 25, 1993 TAG: 9310250096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Long
Sylvia Radford hunched next to the Dr Pepper machine - purple pants pushed up to her knees, a multicolored scarf wrapped tight around her hair - and watched foliage fans from the Blue Ridge Parkway flock to the Bus Shoppe.
Some came for the Brunswick stew that had been brewing since 6 a.m. or the freshly pressed apple cider cranked out by a woman in colonial garb. Others wanted to visit the gypsy wagon, browse through handmade Indian jewelry or play with the 50-year-old pet mule.
Many were simply intrigued by the hub of activity surrounding this craft fair/flea market/snack bar/campground that's sprawled roughly 600 yards from the parkway at mile marker 149 in Floyd County.
"You go back in time when you come here," said Laverna Grubb, a Roanoker who stumbled upon the Bus Shoppe with her husband, Ralph, on Saturday.
"We drove right by it the first time and had to turn around and come back," Ralph Grubb said. He sampled the simmering stew and it brought back memories of his childhood in the hills of east Tennessee.
"I remember sitting down there - just a little fella - and having yellow jackets eat Brunswick stew off my plate," the retired NASA worker said. "That sounds like a mighty big tale, but it's true."
Were it not for the crowds, the wood-frame structure - its namesake bus no longer visible behind a thick layer of additions - could be mistaken for an abandoned barn instead of the community center it's become.
"This is where you come to hear all of the gossip," said Radford, 53. "Whoever's not here is who they are talking about."
She lives less than a quarter-mile from the Bus Shoppe and gets dinner there two or three times a week. One of her favorites is the pit-cooked barbecue made by Iris and Hawthrone Stuart, who have run the place since 1988.
Radford can't remember exactly when in the mid-1970s her cousin Warren Pate paid the Floyd County School Board $450 for an old school bus stripped of its engine and transmission. He parked it on land owned by another one of Radford's cousins, Herman Pate, and turned it into a roadside store for parkway travelers.
It caught on quickly. During tourist season up to 100 people would stop by each day to get a cold drink, ice cream, cigarettes or even sardines.
Warren Pate died in 1986 and the mini-store shut down.
But the dilapidated bus was given new life in 1988 when the Stuarts left Northern Virginia and returned to their rural roots.
"I was born 5 miles down the road and raised just over the hill," Hawthrone said.
A wandering customer asks what's in the stew that Hawthrone is so carefully stirring.
"Some tomatoes, corn, potatoes . . . the only meat in here is chicken - no wild meat," he said. "If you were going to do it at home then you would throw in an old rabbit or some deer meat."
Iris - know as Aunt Sissy to regulars - said the Bus Shoppe wouldn't still be around without the generosity of Herman Pate, who still owns the land it sits on.
"He told us to open it back up and be happy," she said. "We've tried [to pay him], but he won't take a dime from us."
At first, Iris stocked the bus with crafts and a few groceries for tourists.
It soon became overcrowded, so Hawthrone began picking up scrap wood and expanding.
"All the materials to make this are used," Iris said, beaming proudly. They have used scrap lumber, tin off old buildings and windows found at the dump.
First a porch was added, but soon that was covered and a wood stove was brought in for winter use. Goods in the store now include used books, clothes, canned tomatoes and a special section of quilting materials.
After the new snack bar was built, the old bus was surrounded by wooden buildings and an old splintered porch.
Soon Iris began inviting local artists and antiques dealers to set up booths. The Bus Shoppe then developed a small flea market.
"The energy that goes on here is just fabulous," said Penny Haase. "The American enterprising spirit is alive. It's so beautiful because it's not so regimented."
Penny and her husband, Art, built a gypsy wagon where they sell a variety of arts, crafts and jewelry. The 8-foot-by-16-foot wagon - complete with stained glass windows and a tiny pipe stove - has been parked at the site since April.
"This place is just heaven," she said.
The Bus Shoppe has also become something of a haven for bicyclists looking for a place to camp after a long day of riding. By next spring, Iris hopes to install a public shower and restroom.
During peak season from March to October, up to 300 visitors a day come to the Bus Shoppe.
The vendors and craft booths will be gone during the winter, but Hawthrone and Iris will crank up the building's rusty wood stove and jaw all day with the locals who stop by.
Harvey Vest, an 80-year-old lifelong Floyd resident, visits the Stuarts at least once a day, often making three or four trips - even when it's cold.
"I just enjoy the company," the widower said.
"Harvey's got nails in this place," Iris said. "He's a permanent institution here and we couldn't live without him."
There aren't many folks Iris doesn't adore. Hardly anyone leaves the Bus Shoppe without a hug from her. "We love you, come back," she said to one first-time visitor.
The Bus Shoppe is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. On busy days, like Saturday, Iris and Hawthrone rarely get a break. There's always a line, sometimes six people deep, waiting to taste their mountain cooking.
"Iris, you're working me to death," Hawthorne bellowed at his wife as she chatted with one of the visitors.
For Iris, that's what the Bus Shoppe is all about - making friends.
"And boy, have I met some characters," she said. "I meet all different kinds."
One of her favorite stories is about a "beautiful" young Australian woman who was biking on the parkway. She showed up when Iris was outside filling a tub to wash some canning jars.
"I went in to fix her something to eat and when I looked out she was completely naked, getting ready to take a bath in my water . . . right out in full view of the parkway."
Iris has dozens of other tales, so many that it's hard for her to finish one, before starting another.
Still, she admits, the Bus Shoppe isn't an easy way to make ends meet.
"There's not a lot of money in it, but we just keep doing it because we like to."
by CNB