THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411120063
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CAROLE O'KEEFFE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
WHEN SANDRA B. BRINKLEY'S husband retired at 49, she put him to work. Jordan L. Brinkley, now 50, was in total agreement. After all, they ``have been married for 31 years - happily,'' he says.
They understand give-and-take.
The two met when she was in fifth grade, he in sixth. In high school, she was a cheerleader. He played basketball and football. They have two sons: Scott, 21, and Chorey, 12, whom his mother schools at home.
Now they are turning their fine relationship and a married lifetime of collecting antiques into a buy, trade and sell business they call Sandra's Dream.
``I was all for it because we were into collectibles all our lives. We love the stuff,'' Jordan Brinkley said recently. ``The good Lord gave us a place close to home, and here we are.''
``It's practically around the corner,'' Sandra Brinkley said.
The business also helps them with their avocation: helping the needy. Sandra Brinkley has operated God's Pantry from a building in her Cypress Chapel area back yard. But even before it had a formal name, the family had become known for raising cash, food, clothing or household furnishings for those down on their luck.
Even now, if someone needed an item from the new antique store, she would give it away, Sandra said.
``We are not in this to become millionaires. In a new business, what comes in at first just goes back into the business. After a while we want to make just enough to pay the rent and have some left over for little extras.''
The building they rent, at 509 Greenway Road, at the intersection of Route 32 and Cypress Chapel Road, used to be a farmer's supply store run by Willy Knight and Ryland Brinkley.
Then the building housed the Dismal Swamp Country Store.
More recent owners converted it from a retail outlet into a prospective home, so there are living, eating, bathing and sleeping areas - just right, Sandra Brinkley says, for displaying collectibles she has been gathering since she was a girl.
The couple's home is also full of antiques.
``You just about have to walk sideways to get through,'' she said.
For example, her at-home den has nine china cabinets filled with ruby-red glassware and seven completed sets of Fire King bakeware. She also has McCoy and carnival glass, and several Raggedy Ann dolls.
``Things I love,'' she said.
Sandra calls the store a dream come true.
They sell true antiques, collectibles and more. Customers come from all walks of life, Sandra said. ``Some with a little bit of money and some with a lot of money.''
Prices range from as low as a dollar to ``indefinite,'' Jordan said.
``We want to cater to anybody who walks in that door,'' Sandra said. And that often includes people with no money.
People also come to the Brinkleys with donations, both for the needy and for the antique store.
``So far, we have not had to go to one auction. Most can't say that,'' Sandra said. ``People have brought it right to my door.''
A list of items for sale includes antique parlor seats, claw-footed oak tables, wash pots, under-bed pots, butter crocks, old dishes, coffee pots and appliances, red-handled cooking utensils, a table from a cotton mill on which the cotton was graded, cast iron fry pans, muffin tins, a wood-fired stove, an apple butter cooker and a cider mill. They just sold an early 1900s walnut dining suite.
``We are doing very well,'' Jordan said.
Sandra is doing research to see if a doll house she has could be German from the 1800s that would be worth as much as $3,200.
The store also sells old weather vanes - and some, like those decorated with a horse and a cow, go for about $1,700.
Already, the store is too full, Sandra Brinkley said.
So she is looking at renting warehouse space nearby. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Jordan and Sandra Brinkley buy, trade and sell antiques to help the
needy. They've been collecting all their married life.
by CNB