With the rainy and gloomy weather forecasted for Friday, I drove down to Buzzy’s Country Store expecting it to be a very slow day. For a seasonally dependent business, any rain is a bummer, but when the rain involves a hurricane/tropical storm, it is definitely not your friend.
However, a funny thing happened throughout all of my Friday at Buzzy’s – it turned out to be a great day for visits and exchanges among my many Buzzy friends and visitors. Here is a quick recap of how my great Buzzy day went.
Shortly after I opened around 10 o’clock a young man dropped in to buy his mother a souvenir to take to her now living in Florida. He informed me how he was here for a family reunion this weekend to be held at the Knights of St. Jerome Hall in Dameron but his Mom couldn’t make it. Thus, he wanted to take her a souvenir from her hometown of Scotland. That prompted me to find out more about the reunion and his family.
As we talked, I learned that I knew his Aunt and Uncle very well but did not recall knowing his Mom. He then called her and told her “I’m in Buzzy’s right now talking to J. Scott.” As he had her on the speaker phone I heard her ask “Buzzy’s boy?” I then talked to her and learned that she now lives in Pensacola. Her son is in Texas and had flown up here for the reunion. (If you see a lot of cars at St. Jerome Hall today and/or tomorrow, you’ll know what’s going on.)
After that young man left, a couple from the White Marsh area of Baltimore with their two small boys in tow came in for snacks and sodas. They told me that they had been down to Point Lookout and had enjoyed being there even with the crummy overcast and drizzly weather. I asked them about picking such a crappy day to drive 2 hours to go to the beach. They said “We figured that there wouldn’t be too many people there today and we were right. We had a great time.”
My “Everydayers” began to roll in along with another friend and his ex wife. Accompanying them were their two daughters. The ex wife and the one daughter are visiting here from out-of-state. (Note, the ex-wife and her current husband have previously visited Buzzy’s, but this was the daughter’s first trip to Buzzy’s.)
After catching up with everyone in the Store, they eventually ended up sitting out on the Buzzy front porch. When one of the daughters came in to buy another round for them, she told me “This is the first time in 20 years that all 4 of us have been together like this. It’s wonderful. Thank you for having us.” I told her “No – I thank you for dropping in. The pleasure is all mine.”
While they were out on the porch relaxing, two guys who had been in Buzzy’s on Thursday came back in to drink a couple of beers. They are staying in a VRBO and had enjoyed their Thursday visit so much that they made a return visit. Turns out that they are from the same state as the ex-wife and daughter. Small world.
Another friend who had also been in on Thurday rolled in and promptly rang the bell to buy a round. At the time, there was a fella at the counter trying to buy a beer. I told him of the Buzzy-bell policy and that he didn’t have to pay for the beer. He asked if I was serious. Turns out that he is staying in one of Peggy’s rentals at RoDo Beach which used to be the home of my ex-wife’s folks. Very small world.
But I couldn’t talk much with the fella because the next thing I knew, Dictator Cullison visited and I was glad that he did so. On Thursday morning Dictator’s son Richard (we all called him Dickie) had passed away. So it was good to see Dictator out and about and having him stop in Buzzy’s.
Somewhere along the line, Dictator and the fella from RoDo Beach began talking and when asked where he was from the fella noted “Lancaster, PA.” Dictator told him that he had been to Lancaster quite a few times to the Sight and Sound Theater. The guy laughed as he said “I live right by it.” Really small world.
And speaking of living arrangement coincidences, my friend who bought the round on Friday, had also had been in Buzzy’s on Thursday. She took this photo of me with a Dad and his two kids who also were staying in a nearby VRBO. Guess where they were staying? In a house on the Bay located right across the road from my friend who took this photo. (Maybe too small of a world.)
And a final serendipitous meeting at Buzzy’s on Friday came about when a deaf guy came in to buy a beer. He wanted to use his card to pay for it and as I tried explaining that Buzzy’s had a minimum on using cards, my buddy Bobby Wright bought the beer for him.
Bobby and the young guy began conversing using the text feature on their cell phones. After learning that the guy was a boat electrician looking for work, Bobby then left to escort him down to Pt. Lookout Marina to talk to the folks there about possibly working for them.
Later on, as I was doing the pass down to Tracey and preparing to leave the Store, I looked up to see the young guy come back into the Store. He proceeded to show me a text saying “Thanks to Bobby I think I got the job.” I congratulated him and texted back “Good thing you came in Buzzy’s.”
On my way home, I thought about my busy day and all the friends and folks who had dropped in. All I could do was shake my head, smile and say “Just another day at Buzzy’s. Thank you God.”
Somewhere along the line, this tune played on the classic deep cuts’ channel and as always, with anything from these guys, I had to crank it up. Even their acoustical stuff was heavy rock.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/fk5lfjNH4cE?si=nU2ElFuJmUhYjVMo