Loose Leaf Notes

~ The following was published in the October issue of Natural Awakenings of Southwest Virginia.

At The Floyd Country Store in downtown Floyd you can purchase penny candy, play checkers with a neighbor, or enjoy a lunch of beans and cornbread.  You can also pick up wireless on your laptop, buy eco-friendly products, or maybe catch a Virginia governor playing banjo on stage.

As a retail store, ice cream parlor, restaurant, music venue, and community gathering place, the Floyd Country Store is carrying on the traditions of small town mountain life while also welcoming new traditions and new visitors who come from all over, drawn by the store’s legendary reputation for old-time Appalachian music and dances.

Purchased and renovated in 2005 by Woody and Jackie Crenshaw, the store is one of the most popular stops on The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, as evidenced by attendance at the Friday Night Jamboree, a musical celebration that began in the mid 1980’s and evolved from shopkeepers’ after-hours fiddling sessions that neighbors dropped by to hear.

On a Friday afternoon at the Country Store the buzz of activity begins to build around 4:00.  People mingle, shop, and eat hand-dipped ice cream cones as store employees set up chairs accented with comfy cushions purchased from the thrift shop next door.  By 5:00 a couple of rows in front of the stage are already filled people intent on beating the standing room only crowd and waiting for Woody Crenshaw’s welcoming introduction of the 6:30 gospel hour.

By 7:00 the famous jamboree street scene, documented by The Washington Post, USA Today, and other national and international publications, is in full swing.  Crowds gather around half a dozen jam sessions along the sidewalks and one in the Barber Shop.  Inside the Country Store, foot stomping to the first of two featured bands is underway by 7:30 for a cost of $5 ($3 if you get a card punched 5 times and become a “Friday night fixture”).  A mix of generations is represented on the dance floor that’s never empty.  Flatfooting is the predominant style of dance– a heel to toe folk dance derived from European and Cherokee step dancing – but waltzes are also popular.

Originally a farmer’s supply, the Country Store celebrated its 100^th birthday in June. These days the store is open six days a week for breakfast and lunch and carries a variety of general store items, including kitchenware, clothing, toys, locally made crafts, green cleaning products, apothecary items, souvenirs, books and CD’s.   “We probably have the biggest selection of old-time music recordings than any other retail store in the state.  We have over 500 titles,” Woody Crenshaw says.

Americana and bluegrass are also played at the store, but “old-time music is the heart of the place and our focus,” Crenshaw notes. Apart from the Friday Night Jamboree (which has drawn international acts), regular Saturday night concerts feature some of the best old-time dance bands in the region.  On Saturdays from 12 to 3:00, the store hosts a featured band, followed by an open mic.  On Sunday a traditional circle jam takes place.  Both daytime events are free.

Since the Crenshaws took over country store, it’s been used for a variety of community gatherings, including a children’s concert, a benefit for a young man with cancer, a seed saving group, a workshop on bee keeping, clogging dance classes, and rallies for both major political parties.   Last May nationally acclaimed environmental author Bill McKibben spoke to a full house at the Country Store.  Two Virginia Governors, both current Senators, a Lieutenant Governor and Congressman have also visited.

For centuries country stores have been the center of rural culture.  The Crenshaws’ intention has been to honor that tradition and build on it. “It’s a general store for this age and for this diverse community,” Crenshaw says.

On the benches outside the store, Jamboree goers sit and watch the festival-like street scene. An inviting sign above them reads “Loitering Allowed.”  Inside, another message hanging near the front door announces, “Ya’ll come back.”

They generally do.    ~ Colleen Redman