The Corduroy Falls Gazette

The closure of the Route 2 bridge continues to weigh heavily on Corduroy Falls, and patience — never in limitless supply — is beginning to show its edges. With the county repair crew now entering its second full week on-site, the long detour through Millpond Road has added considerable time and expense to the daily routines of farmers, merchants, and working families alike.

Luther Washington, who makes the haul to Washington Feed & Seed twice weekly, put it plainly enough when he told a neighbor Tuesday morning, "I've burned more fuel on that detour than I care to count, and the diesel isn't getting any cheaper." Beauford Sims, never one to suffer quietly, has reportedly taken to parking his truck and walking the long way rather than add the extra miles — a decision Ernestine Polk called "pure Beauford" over coffee at the diner.

While the disruption has frustrated nearly everyone, the community's better instincts have come forward in equal measure. Dorothy Lee Campbell has extended credit at Campbell's Grocery to several families on the far side of the bridge whose supply runs have grown costlier. Darnell Okafor at Darnell's Auto Shop has been offering free tire checks to anyone coming off Millpond Road, that stretch being notoriously rough on treads.

As repair timelines have shifted more than once, Delmus Ray Averett held an informal meeting at the Averett Law Office on Thursday evening, drawing Corrine Estelle Meeks, Herbert Lyle Caudill, and Nathaniel Crews, among others, to discuss coordinating grocery and mail deliveries for elderly residents most affected by the closure. Mamie Lou Craddock, who has not been able to get to the county clinic without considerable difficulty, was among those mentioned by name.

County officials have not yet committed to a firm reopening date, though word passed along by Callie Rue Fontaine — who hears most things before most people — suggests crews hope to have the main span passable by the end of the month. Corduroy Falls will be watching.

Word has reached this column that the matter of filling Dr. Harold Whitfield's chair at Whitfield Family Practice is moving, at last, into something resembling a real decision. Corrine Estelle Meeks, our steadfast nurse at the county clinic, confirmed as much when she remarked to Ernestine Polk over the lunch counter Tuesday that, "we cannot keep patching things together with a rotating locum and good intentions."

While no formal announcement has been made by the county health board, a small but purposeful gathering took place Thursday evening at the Averett Law Office, where Justice of the Peace Delmus Ray Averett hosted a discussion open to interested residents. Franklin Price of Price Pharmacy attended, as did Ida Faye Beaumont, Reverend Amos Thornhill, and Luther Washington, who made the drive in from his farm to have his say. Alma Jean Treadwell, never one to miss a civic occasion, arrived early and stayed late.

The mood, by most accounts, was serious. Several names have reportedly been put forward — none from Corduroy Falls itself, which has set Leland Taft Goode's barbershop buzzing with opinions all week. "An outsider's an outsider until they're not," Beauford Sims was heard to offer on the matter, though whether that counts as endorsement or caution depends on who you ask.

Mavis Lucille Greene, whose long memory encompasses every physician this county has seen come and go, offered the gathering her frank assessment: the town needs someone willing to stay, not someone marking time between bigger postings. Hard to argue with that.

Corrine Meeks is expected to present a formal recommendation to the county board no later than the first week of June. Residents with concerns are encouraged to speak with her directly.

While the dust from last week's Great Pie Contest brouhaha has yet to fully settle, Ernestine Polk of Ernestine's Diner on Main Street has found a way to turn the whole sorry affair into a business opportunity.

Beginning this Monday, the diner will offer what Polk is calling the "Scandal Slice" — a rotating daily selection of pies baked from the very recipes at the center of the contest dispute, priced at thirty-five cents a slice with coffee included through the end of the month.

"Somebody's got to benefit from all this fuss," Polk laughed, wiping her hands on her apron, "and it might as well be the hungry folks of Corduroy Falls."

The promotion has already drawn considerable foot traffic. Gracie Nell Hollis, who waitresses at the diner, reported that Tuesday's butterscotch cream — the alleged "borrowed" recipe at the heart of the scandal — sold out before noon. Wanda Sue Bledsoe, the diner's cook, has been working double batches since the announcement.

Over at Leland's Barber Shop, opinions on the matter remain sharply divided. Leland Taft Goode noted dryly that at least one good thing had come of the whole ordeal: "People finally stopped talking about the bypass long enough to argue about something tastier."

The Scandal Slice special runs through May 31.