March being Women’s History month I thought I would look back and feature some of the more powerful and influential women in the history of Buzzy’s Country Store. I will lead off with my Grandmothers Anna and Miss Hattie.
My Grandmother Anna Raley was married to my Grandfather Harry Raley when he purchased the Store in 1945 from the Shumans. She took over as Post Master of the Scotland Post Office which used to be located in the Store. (The Post Office occupied the area that now contains the bar counter and beer/soda coolers.)
Anna and Harry divorced and the Post Office’s new Post Master Queenie Willis had the Post Office relocated down the road next door to her home. Anna and Harry would eventually reunite and remarry and continue to live at the Store. Some of my early childhood memories are hearing them arguing upstairs. Eventually they split up again and Harry sold the Store to my Dad in 1954.
Buzzy’s Mom Ms. Hattie was a key figure in the Store also. While she never worked behind the counter she was a fixture in the Store every Friday evening when she would do her shopping. I’m inclined to say that Buzzy did not charge her for things she picked up in the Store but I can’t verify that. Ms. Hattie provided the Store with eggs, butter and sausage for Buzzy to re-sell so I’m sure they had some sort of barter system worked out.
My Great Aunt Alice “Sissy” Raley provided Buzzy with store coverage when he would venture away from the Store to sell liquor as a sales rep for Arundel Liquors and to dabble in local politics. Buzzy served as County Commissioner from 1962 to 1966 and it was Sissy who afforded him the opportunity to be away from the Store for extended periods of time.
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| Sissy and My Mom |
Following Aunt Sissy, Berta Pratt then became Buzzy’s go-to person for coverage whenever he was away. Berta had retired from the Post Office and became Buzzy’s Number 1 clerk. No longer politicking, Buzzy began travelling the world and Berta proved to be a very dependable substitute whenever he was gone. I recall driving home from the airport once and Buzzy was counting out his money on hand. I made some comment about him having been around the world and yet he still had some money left. Buzzy replied “This is what I got to pay Berta for watching the Store.” Because I worked for the Navy, it had never occurred to me that a business owner has to pay for coverage when he was away on vacation. However, as Buzzy would say later, it was worth every cent he paid to get away and see the world. I’ve tried to adopt the same approach.
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| Berta |
My Cousin Lorraine Teefey was also a valuable asset to Buzzy as she and her husband Teefey frequently worked the Store to give Buzzy a break. They usually worked Friday nights for him but could be counted on to fill in whenever needed. Lorraine was Buzzy’s niece and to say that she and Teefey were party people who enjoyed having a good time is a bit of an understatement. While Buzzy oversaw and encouraged much of the partying that went down in the Store, Lorraine and Teefey were oftentimes the ringleaders and organizers of those parties.
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| ?, Teefey and Lorraine |
My Mom of course was a vital member throughout the Store’s development as she took care of everything in “the back of the house” and allowed Buzzy to run the Store. My Mom was the primary parent in raising four kids because Buzzy was always minding the Store. She would fill in whenever Buzzy had to leave or go do some errands but she preferred to stay behind the scenes. It was at her urging that they bought property down Curley Road and built a new house there on Calvert Creek. She once told me “It was only after we moved to Curley Road that I realized that we were more of family when we were at the Store because we were all together. Once we moved to Curley Road it was us at the house and your Father at the Store. That’s when all of the partying started.”
My Mom continues to be a source of support for me as she visits the Store quite frequently and gives me many recommendations about its operations. For instance, she doesn’t like that I have annotated the Buzzy hats and souvenirs with Pt. Lookout and not Scotland. I’m working on fixing that.
So there you have a quick history of some of the women who played a key role in the operation of Buzzy’s Country Store. I like to think that I have continued that tradition by having such a great group of ladies to assist me in keeping Buzzy’s rolling. I know full well that I could not do it without them. My thanks to Jenny, Anna, Pam, Lisa, Teri and Kayla for all of their help and support.
As I write this it’s raining like crazy outside so of course the combination of women and rain brought this tune of Bob‘s to mind: