Ayden Magazine - Winter 2023

EAT, DRINK, PLAY AND CATCH UP WITH SOME AYDEN ICONS

Winter 2023

LOCAL FAVORITES

INSIDE

Darlene Pollard

Steve Tripp

First Friday Fun

Soft Drink Dynasty

Merry Christmas yden! fromAy

252-481-5831

Special thanks to the ENC Alliance for contributing to this publication.

WINTER 2023

CONTENTS

Robbie Quinn performs at Veterans Memorial Park during Downtown Ayden’s First Friday event in October.

TABLE OF

Darlene the Collard Queen

04

Record-holder recalls the day she ate more than anyone

Tripp down memory lane

07

Longtime Ayden mayor reflects on how his hometown helped shape him

Banding together

10

Ayden, UNC musicians forge friendship that has continued for 15 years

First Friday fun

13

Inaugural season gives downtown a boost

Eat, play, shop

18

A guide to some of Ayden’s favorite places

Centuries on display

23

Churches past, present remembered at ever-growing Ayden Museum

Soft drink dynasty

28

Book celebrates Minges family success as company prepares for new era

Mark Cohen Publisher Bobby Burns Editor Scott Davis, Pat Gruner, Ginger Livingston, Beyonca Mewborn Photography Pat Gruner, Kim Grizzard, Ginger Livingston, Beyonca Mewborn, Breanna Sapp Writers Christina Ruotolo, Lewis Smith Advertising Restoration Newsmedia Layout AYDEN© is published biannually by The Standard newspaper. Contents are the property of this newspaper and the Town of Ayden and may not be reproduced without consent of the publisher.

Darlene the Collard Queen Record-holder recalls the day she ate more than anyone

By Breanna Sapp

W

hen Darlene Pollard heard about the Ayden Collard Festival’s annual collard eating contest in 2006, she made a declaration: She would earn herself the title “Darlene the Collard Queen” that very same day.

“I declared that morning, I’d normally look at the parade, but that morning I just said, ‘I’m going to be the winner, the Collard Queen,’” Pollard said with a snap, reflecting on the day that would go down in Ayden history.

Now 68, she ate 6.5 pounds of collards in under 30 minutes, setting the women’s collard eating record that has yet to be broken.

Pollard’s record is just less than three cups of collards away from the festival’s overall record, a whopping 9.25 pounds, later set by Andy Krawczyk in 2022. It was just a pound off the record set by longtime men’s champion and renowned eater Mort Hurst.

With the 50th anniversary of the festival coming up in September 2024, Pollard said the name Darlene the Collard Queen was inspired by the festival’s mascot, Colleen the Collard Green, though Pollard admits that the two have a disagreement over who should be the face of the festival.

“My name is a synonym for collard greens,” Pollard

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Darlene Pollard hangs out with Asia and Crystal Gorham at the Collard Festival in 2014. She’s a mainstay at the event and other town happenings. (File photo)

said matter-of-factly. “You know, collards, change that C to P, there you go.”

While Pollard admits she got sick shortly after earning her title — winning contestants have to hold them down at least 30 minutes — she made sure she recovered in time to make it onto the festival dance floor later that night.

“I ate 'em and I ate 'em, and of course I got sick,” she said. “And I was back out that night, jamming, jamming to the beat and everything.”

Since her record-breaking moment of fame, Pollard has made sure to attend the

festival every year, though she admits she has put the fork down.

Pollard instead trains other contestants vying for the title, including current record-holder Krawczyk.

“I don’t eat anymore, I just let somebody else eat and I’m the coach,” Pollard said.

But Pollard is well known for more than just her love for leafy greens in the Town of Ayden.

A popular name in Ayden’s close-knit community, Pollard is a self-described “handywoman” who spends most of her time serving others, admirers said.

Pollard is a volunteer at Ayden Christian Care Center and an active member of the Ayden Community Policing Council and Ayden Chris-

Ayden Magazine

tian Church.

She also is a regular at town hall meetings and, more recently, volunteering as a poll worker on Election Day. “They know I’m a hot mess, I’m the life of the town,” Pollard joked. “And when people need me, and stuff like that, I go over and help.”

Pollard was born and raised right outside of Ayden, in the “country part” of the area, where collard greens were a regular delicacy and well-loved by the Pollard household.

She says her family had a garden where they would often pick the collards by hand.

“We did collard greens, and ham hocks, and neckbones and all that stuff,” Pollard said, followed by a

Winter 2023

Save the Date » The 50th Ayden Collard Festival is set for Sept. 5-7, 2024. Visit aydencollardfestival.com and facebook. com/aydencollardfestival » Ayden Founders Day is Feb. 2, 2024.

Celebrate 133 years of Ayden. Visit downtownayden.org/founders-day and Ayden NC Founders Day Celebrations on Facebook » Kings of Q Festival, May 2024. World class barbecue cookoff. Visit aydenbbq.org

collard-making tip. “You’ve got to know how to do the right meat. And the right meat is some kind of, most of the time is hog jowls and stuff like that.”

While one might assume Pollard

Winter 2023

would be sick of the traditional Southern dish at this point, she insists she still loves to eat collard greens.

But Pollard’s favorite act is to cook them for others, she said, something her

Ayden Magazine

mother taught her when she was young.

Her recipe? She doesn’t have one.

“It’s from the brain, it’s a made-up one right straight from my brain,” Pollard explained.

“Just a little tad of sugar, and then the seasoned meat, then take 'em out. I don’t like 'em too mushy, I just like 'em chopped up a little bit, don’t make 'em a mush. Make 'em a little crispy. Put white potatoes in the pot and you’ve got a meal.”

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Tripp down memory lane Longtime Ayden mayor reflects on how his hometown helped shape him

By Kim Grizzard

I

n the 1960s, this was the kind of place where a boy could roam the town on his bike, riding to the elementary school, pedaling over to the soda fountain at the pharmacy or stopping by to see the mayor, who would pause from his gardening to talk with someone who was not nearly old enough to vote.

Former Ayden Mayor Ross Persinger wasn’t fully aware of all the seeds he was planting at the time. But current Mayor Steve Tripp knows — because he was that kid.

“When I was a little kid, I would go and he would take time with me,” Tripp said. “He would stop doing his garden or pulling weeds and have a conversation with me. I will never forget that.”

For some three decades, Tripp has been paying it forward, serving 10 years as an Ayden town commissioner and the last 20 years as mayor. As the home-grown mayor prepares to leave office, he credits this Pitt County town of about 5,000 with helping a shy child to blossom into a community leader.

“I was raised here,” said Tripp, who attended elementary and middle school in town and graduated in 1975 as a member of the first class to attend all four years at the consolidated Ayden-Grifton High School. “It was a family atmosphere with neighbors knowing neighbors. You felt very secure.”

When he wasn’t in school, young Steve divided his time between playing sports with the town’s recreation department and attending Rose Hill Church, where former Winterville Town Manager Red Nobles was his Sunday school teacher.

Beginning with his teen years, he spent summers picking cucumbers and working in tobacco on his uncle’s farm.

“It taught me the value of money, the value of working hard,” Tripp said. “It motivated me to do well in college because I didn’t want to go back to the tobacco fields. Anytime I did not want to go to the library and study, I thought about those summer months, and it was an easy decision then.”

Tripp, whose father Robert Lee Tripp worked at Edwards Pharmacy, attended pharmacy school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, following in the footsteps of his older brother. Tripp’s mother, Irene, worked at Southern Bank to help put the couple’s two sons through college.

“Watching my parents, they were very active in their church,” Tripp recalled. “My father was in the fire department, served as chief at one time. So being raised in that type of family atmosphere, with servanthood, gave me the heart (to serve).”

Winter 2023

Ayden Mayor Steve Tripp stands outside town hall on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, during his final month in office. He stepped down after 20 years as mayor and 10 years on the town Board of Commissioners.

(Photo by Scott Davis)

Ayden Magazine

7

Then-Greenville Mayor Allen Thomas, left, and Ayden Mayor Steve Tripp had a friendly competition during the 2013 collard-eating contest at the Ayden Collard Festival. (Photo by Walter Blackwell)

Mitchell Oakley, the longtime editor of the local newspaper, said the Tripp family’s roots run deep in Ayden.

Among the descendants of Caleb Benjamin Tripp (Mayor Tripp’s great-grandfather) were respected business owners, educators and health care professionals.

“The Tripp family has always been a success,” Oakley said. “They worked consistently and persistently in all things they did. I think Steve has that ingrained in him as well.”

Tripp’s career in public service began shortly after his graduation from college in 1980. Having returned home to Pitt County to work as a pharmacist for Hollowell’s Drug Store, in 1982 he became one of the youngest members to serve on the Pitt County Board of Education. At the time, Greenville City Schools and Pitt County Schools operated as two separate entities. About three years into Tripp’s tenure, the district agreed to merge, a decision he supported.

“A lot of people in the county thought that was the wrong decision; I thought it was the right decision,” he said. “It was not politically favorable. I probably would not have won a re-election (Tripp did not run), but I made the

right decision.

“Change sometimes is scary to people, but change is needed,” he said. “You need to be very strategic in the change that you make. You’ve got to be very future-thinking.”

Oakley, who has continued to write a column for The Standard newspaper since his retirement, said that many of Tripp’s ideas have proved to be good for the town in the long term.

“He did a lot of good things in Ayden,” said Oakley, who has known Tripp for more than 40

years. “I didn’t always agree with him, but I had a lot of respect for him.

Oakley has written that Tripp’s forward thinking on the expansion of water and sewer services has resulted in growth for the town. He listed the District Park, Food Commercialization Center and expansion of Pepsi Cola as other accomplishments in which the outgoing mayor had a hand.

Tripp, who is vocal about his Christian faith, said believers at area churches have been faithful to pray for him, and he has seen God’s hand at work on behalf of the town.

“I have seen doors open through the name of Jesus that were closed for the Town of Ayden,” he said, explaining that the town had received more in grant funding than it has collected in property taxes.

“How do you do that?” he said.

“There’s only one way: God had to intervene.

“I’m not telling people how to believe or what to believe. I’m just telling them what happened to me,” he said.“I want them to understand it’s through him and through his help that’s gotten us where we are.”

Although he is stepping down as mayor, Tripp is not retiring as president of the ECU Health SurgiCenter. He and his wife, Susan, plan to continue to live in Ayden, where Tripp will serve by being involved with events such as the Collard Festival. (See related story.)

As another Ayden native, Ivory Mewborn, prepares to assume the mayor’s seat, Tripp believes the town is still good ground for cultivating leaders.

Tripp speaks during a kickoff celebration for the Eastern North Carolina Food Commercialization Center at the Ayden Renaissance Center in December 2021. (File photo)

Thomas and Tripp compete in the collard eating contest during the Ayden Collard Festival in 2013. (File photo)

“People are eager to know you, and when you do things they are eager to support you,” he said. “It’s about people caring for each other.

People say, ‘Everybody does that.’ That may be true, but we do it in a special way.

“We do it in a way that was done to me when I grew up.

That has not changed,” Tripp said. “It’s that little boy who we may not know 20 years from now saying, ‘I had that same experience. That’s why I’m mayor.’ That’s what we want.”

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“The Pool Room” a common name heard throughout Ayden, has been in operation in downtown Ayden since the 1940s.

Renamed Andy’s Grill & Recreation in 1971, the Stocks family bought the iconic business and expanded its services from a pool hall to a restaurant that also serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. “We were Andy’s way before the chain and outlasted them,” said owner and manager Johnny Stocks, whose father, Andy, bought the business in the early 70s.

Stocks has watched his customers grow up over the years and their families expand. “Being in business 50 years, you develop relationships. Friends and family come to Andy’s when they are in town from D.C. and New York, just like they do at Bum’s and Skylight (Inn). “I have seen generations grow up, like kids who used to come in with their grandparents and now come back with their kids. I love it.”

Winter 2023

Ayden Magazine

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Ayden, UNC musicians forge friendship that has continued for 15 years

By Kim Grizzard

F

or Ayden’s mayor of two decades, any trip down memory lane must include a stop at 2008, the year the Collard Festival parade had musical guests to beat the band.

It has been 15 years since bands from East Carolina University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill both marched in the parade, but it stands as one of Mayor Steve Tripp’s treasured accomplishments from the time he was in office.

Part of the explanation for that is the fact that Tripp is a UNC graduate. But another reason he considers it a feat is because some folks had said it couldn’t be done.

Tripp recalled floating the idea to members of the Collard Festival committee when they learned that the Pirates would host the Tar Heels the same day as the parade.

A member of the University of North Carolina band gets ready to perform.

(File photo)

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Stacy Ralston, left, and other members of the UNC marching band perform during the Downtown Day hosted by the Ayden Chamber of Commerce in September 2011. (File photo)

At first glance, it would seem that a football game against an in-state rival might cut into attendance at the festival, but Tripp had an idea for capitalizing on the competition.

“I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to see if we can get the marching band there?’” he recalled.

“I’m the type of person (that) I don’t mind asking. I think that’s the only way you’re going to make connections.”

Jeff Fuchs, who has

served as UNC’s director of bands since 1995, said he had never heard of the Collard Festival before he received the invitation to play. (Tripp invited him to check out the festival website to reassure him it wasn’t a prank call.)

“I was like, ‘I have no idea what a collard green festival is, but let me look at it,’” Fuchs recalled, adding that he agreed to the appearance because the band was already coming to ECU for the game.

What happened next would forever color the way Fuchs saw the festival. The band was met by a police escort at the town limits and welcomed with banners at local businesses.

“They got us shirts with the collard green logo on it,” Fuchs said. “They fed us at one of the churches. It was

Ayden Magazine

a big deal. It’s still a favorite story of the kids in the band at that time.”

The parade made headlines for Ayden, but that wasn’t the end of the story.

When the two university football teams met again in Greenville a few years later, it was not during the Collard Festival. But Tripp invited the band anyway, and Fuchs accepted. A few years after that, the band made another visit before a game.

“I guess we’ve probably done it three times now,” Fuchs said. “We enjoy going there. They take great care of us. It’s just kind of become this thing now that we do.”

And it’s the only thing like this that the band does.

Fuchs said the group seldom agrees to engagements outside of Carolina athletics.

There simply isn’t the time or the budget for such outings.

The band doesn’t even generally make an appearance at Chapel Hill’s Christmas parade (mainly due to scheduling). But it already has an invitation from Tripp to return next year for Ayden’s 50th anniversary Collard Festival. Fuchs said if there isn’t a conflicting athletic event, the group will plan to be there.

“He’s a persuasive individual,” Fuchs said of Tripp. “He thinks outside the box and bigger than just inside the city limits. He thinks much larger than that.”

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Members of the University of North Carolina band march past members of the East Carolina University dance team during Downtown Day hosted by the Ayden Chamber of Commerce in September 2011. (File photo)

While the trip to Ayden is not like going to the Rose Bowl, Fuchs said it has become a point of pride for UNC band members who have made the trip, one that

they talk about for years.

“Every student we’ve ever taken to Ayden had a great experience,” he said, “and now they carry those fond memories with them.”

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Dan Hemmings, left, and Robbie Quinn perform at Veterans Memorial Park during the October First Friday.

First Friday fun Inaugural season gives downtown a boost

By Beyonca Mewborn

A

season full of First Fridays has given Downtown Ayden a boost and a regular promotion to build on, organizers said.

A mix of music, the arts, a little culture and history combined with retail partnerships, sales and specials, First Friday Ayden is designed to increase foot traffic downtown and introduce the district to locals and folks from out of town.

Downtown Ayden Inc., a nonprofit organization that is part of the N.C. Main Street Program, is dedicated to growing Ayden’s downtown.

Its board of directors and volunteers developed the First Friday Ayden events, which started in May and continued through December.

Each event has featured

Winter 2023

Sandra Camacho-Bond, Lori Millsap, Betty Wheatley show off some their quilts at Veterans Memorial Park during the October First Friday. (Photos by Beyonca Mewborn)

special activities coordinated by the group at Veterans Memorial Park and the West Avenue Stage across from Town Hall, said Doris Connor, Downtown Ayden Inc.’s

vice chairwoman. The Ayden Historical and Art Society Museum also has been active in the events.

“By taking part, retailers will be a part of an overall

Ayden Magazine

marketing campaign for First Friday Ayden to gain new customers and provide an awareness of what businesses are in downtown Ayden,” Conner said.

Each event has been successful and helped build momentum from the previous event, said Connor, who took visitors on a tour of participating businesses during the inaugural First Friday in May. Starting at the Ayden Museum, some of the stops included Andy’s Grill, Pequeno Mexico Lindo Bakery and Bum’s Restaurant, where actress Catherine Bach, who played Daisy Duke on the “Dukes of Hazzard”, also was making a visit.

Connor said there is no cost for local businesses to formally participate in First Friday events, but Downtown Ayden Inc. asks businesses to offer a special or a sample and to partner with a business located outside of

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Doris Connor, vice chairwoman of the Downtown Ayden Inc. Board of Directors, gets ready to place an order from Jamerican HotDogs during the November First Friday Ayden. Connor said inaugural First Friday season helped raise the profile of downtown and she’s excited about making the events better next year.

downtown.

“The special or sample can be food, a beverage, a product, discounts, promotions, workshops, entertainment and more,” said Connor.

“Just let your creativity fly.”

Business owners can

provide a space inside or outside of their storefronts for partner businesses to provide their own samples and promotions, Connor said. The group encourages retail or service businesses to partner with a food or bever-

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age business and vice-versa.

Events run from late afternoon to early evening with activities including a quilt display starting at the Veterans park.

“We’ve started doing this little clothesline quilt show for whoever is in town and available to bring their quilts from home,” quilter Lori Millsap said at the October event.

Members of the Greenville Quilters Guild, which includes members from Ayden and from throughout Pitt County, have have been the backbone of the display.

“We welcome anybody from the community that has a quilt that belonged to their grandmother or made by family members,” Millsap said. “We love seeing vintage quilts, and we’re just hanging them on the first Friday of the month for a couple of hours so people in the community can just see the bright colors and realize that there are still a lot of quilters in our area.”

Millsap brought a couple of Halloween quilts: one that

Ayden Magazine

she said her grandchildren particularly love, and one that’s a little more ornate.

Betty Wheatley brought a quilt that was made from Kaffe Fassett fabric while Sandra Camacho-Bon brought a flea market find that she got at the beach for $8 and a block quilt she picked up at Happy’s Emporium, a few blocks east on Third Street.

Robbie Quinn and Dan Hemmings also came out to the park for the October festivities.

The duo from Winterville has been performing together for about nine months, and Quinn said that they have been having a lot of fun playing music together.

“We play a mix of genres and different decades of cover music, some '70s singer-songwriter stuff, a bunch of '80s stuff, we do a bunch of country, we got a little contemporary stuff in there as well from the 2000s and 2010s, and it’s a real smorgasbord of songs,” said Hemmings.

During the First Friday Event in November, Ayden Museum Volunteer Page Worthington offered tours of the museum and showed off their new exhibit showcasing the historical churches of Ayden. Worthington said that Ayden Museum president Andrea Norris researched churches with

Winter 2023

Ayden addresses that were 100 years or older.

“She went to each church, took photographs, and talked with members and personnel in the churches to get information,” said Worthington.

Some of the churches gave us 10 to 25 pages of history, and the ones that didn’t have written records provided oral histories.”

Norris also took photographs of some of the stained-glass windows, and the museum’s creative director Phil Barth framed the church photos in a sequence.

Worthington said that he’s beginning to do some of the stained-glass windows.

“He’s going to add more of those, and Andrea has also compiled all the information that she gathered into a notebook that people will

be able to access if they want to do research on any of the churches,” said Worthington. (See related story) Not far away, DJ Lady B was on the West Avenue Stage providing entertainment and spinning records while visitors stopped at the Jamerican Hotdogs food truck parked across the street. The Ayden African American Ancestral Cemetery committee and its partners with East Carolina University set up an information booth as well.

Jennifer Daugherty, head of the North Carolina Collection at ECU’s Joyner Library, was volunteering at the table. “One of our professors, Dr. Helen Dixon, is working on the cemetery project with their grant, and she’s also working with

Ayden African American Ancestral Cemetery President Linda Smith shows off a book of historic photos during the November.

some of her students to do research on the cemeteries,” said Daugherty.

Daugherty said that they are working together to help identify photos in their collection of historic photos of Ayden, they are bringing them to events like First Friday Ayden to see if people can identify any of the unidentified people in the photos.

Daugherty also did a popup exhibit where she brought out a couple of different books about the history of Ayden and some old cookbooks from community organizations.

Connor said the events will return in May of 2024 with hopes of continuing to grow the activities and energizing Downtown Ayden.

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Winter 2023

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yden is proud to be home to many great places to eat, play and shop. The following list includes many of the town favorites, with Winterville Chamber of Commerce members highlighted.

Eat Andy’s Grill and Recreation Ayden Chamber member Grill that offers classic dishes made from scratch daily, specials that incorporate seasonal, local ingredients, delicious appetizers, tasty salads, inspired entrees, decadent desserts; specials on hot dogs; breakfast, lunch or dinner; sitdown tables, pool tables, video games; owned and operated by the Stocks family since 1971 4264 Lee St. 252-746-2228 andysgrillandrec.com Bum’s Restaurant Longstanding, locally-owned woodcooked barbecue establishment with country-style food; freshly prepared vegetable sides, including cabbage pastry, stewed rutabaga, black-eyed peas, boiled potatoes and collards — grown in Bum’s own garden 566 Third St. 252-746-6880 bumsrestaurant.net The Doghouse Tavern Pub with a full bar, food, live music, karaoke, pool tournaments; steak night on Wednesday 506 Second St. 252-304-2291 facebook.com/Doghouse506 doghousetavern.net Edwards Pharmacy Pharmacy with a grill that serves breakfast and lunch 131 Third St.

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252-746-3126 Edwardspharmacy.org Fryday Nite Fish, The Original Backyard An old-school backyard fish fry with outdoor seating; fish, shrimp, fries, collards, cornbread, hushpuppies, lemonade and more 521 First St. Tonniafnf@aol.com facebook.com/Tonniafnf Gwendy’s Goodies Ayden Chamber member Bakery with tasty treats made from scratch with fresh ingredients; cookies, candies, cakes, cupcakes, pies, breakfast items and more; daily specials 514 Second St. 252-414-8716 gwendysgoodies.com Pequeno Mexican Lindo Bakery Desserts, donuts, fresh baked bread, Mexican sweet breads, bolillo rolls, French rolls, butter croissants and other baked goods 4252 Lee St, Ayden, NC 28513 252746-7437 pequenomexicolindo@gmail.com facebook.com/p/Pequeno-mexico-lindo-inc-100064703107799 Skylight Inn BBQ Established in 1947, a longtime barbecue joint with a no-frills setup offering Carolina-style classics; sister company to Sam Jones BBQ 4618 Lee St. 252-746-4113 skylightinnbbq.com

PLAY Andy’s Grill and Recreation Owned and operated by the Stocks family since 1971; pool tables & video

Ayden Magazine

Catherine Bach, star of the Dukes of Hazzard, poses with Bum’s Restaurant owner Larry Dennis during a visit to Ayden on May 5. (Contributed photo)

games; grill that is open for breakfast lunch or dinner and offers classic dishes made from scratch daily 4264 Lee St. 252-746-2228 andysgrillandrec.com Ayden Golf & Country Club Ayden Chamber member A beautiful, fun and challenging golf course open to the public and nestled among fairways lined with scenic spruce pines; five sets of tees to accommodate any type of golfer; facilities include a pro shop, grill, swimming pool and ballroom; club memberships available 4343 Ayden Golf Club Road 252-746-3389 aydengolf.com

Winter 2023

Carolina H.E.A.T. Martial Arts Academy Ayden Chamber member Martial arts school that specializes in Olympic sport Taekwondo and traditional Taekwondo teachings; helps with the development of children’s self-confidence, manners, discipline, respect, control and perseverance; healthy alternative to main stream after-school and summer programs; fun and educational activities with respectful adults and kids 249 Third St., Suite E 252-286-8611 carolinaheatmaa@gmail.com facebook.com/ Carolina-HEAT-Martial-Arts-Academy-250702968305494 dojos.info/CarolinaHEATMartialArts Cindirine’s Pub that is a local source for fine wines & craft beers; many selections always in stock; patrons can bring their own food; open jam on Wednesday nights, bring an instrument or grab one off the wall; open mic night on first & third Fridays at 8 p.m.

Winter 2023

559 Third St. 252-746-9222 facebook.com/CindirenesSouthernEmporium Freckles Farm Reiki & Yoga Farm that offers uplifting, affordable classes and workshops to all who are interested in living more authentically; Reiki, yoga, meditation, writing workshops, horsemanship and more 2747 Doc Loftin Road 910-528-0507 malaikaalbrecht@gmail.com facebook.com/malaika. albrecht sites.google.com/view/ freckles-farm-reiki-yoga Horses and HEALTH, Inc. Ayden Chamber member A nonprofit organization that is a partner of Freckles Farm Reiki & Yoga to promote healing through experiential activities with horses; HEALTH stands for Healing Equals Active Learning Through Horses.

2747 Doc Loftin Road 910-528-0507 horsesandhealthinc@ gmail.com sites.google.com/view/ freckles-farm-reiki-yoga/ about/partners-and-sponsors

WE ARE ACHIEVERS OUR STUDENTS ARE CAREGIVERS, DESIGNERS, ENTREPRENEURS AND BUILDERS.

Quinerly-Olschner Library Public library 451 Second St. ayden.com/residents/ library Smiles and Frowns Playhouse A component of Ayden Parks & Recreation, a nonprofit children’s theater founded in 1986 for the purpose of giving school-age children the opportunity to learn about, and participate in, all aspects of theater in

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Ayden Magazine

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Ayden Arts & Recreation Vibrant arts and recreation program that offers classes, camps, athletics and annual special events; three parks: J.J. Brown Park; Veterans’ Park; Ayden District Park, home to the popular splash pad open during Pitt County Schools summer recess months; picnic shelter rentals available at all three parks 4354 Lee St. 252-531-7423 252-481-5837 ayden.com/departments/ arts-recreation

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which they have an interest; two shows produced per year, one in the fall and one in the spring 252-531-7423 smccreasfplayhouse@ gmail.com facebook.com/SmilesandFrownsPlayhouse smilesandfrowns.org Spill the Beans Eclectic wine & coffee lounge that offers customers a place to relax while enjoying a variety of beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic; a variety of white and red wines, beer and coffee; available for small business & private events 520 E. Third St. Suite B 202-569-9168 spillthebeanwinecoffee@ gmail.com facebook.com/spill4282

Shop Ayden Autos Pre-owned vehicles 4186 Lee St. 252-304-2222 aydenautos.com Carraway Office Solutions Business that sells copiers, printers and all the solutions that go with them; shredders and folding machines 233 W. Third St. 252-752-4661 cosnc.com Coltrain Hardware Ayden Chamber member Store that sells lawn & garden supplies; power tools & accessories; outdoor furniture; power equipment, tools & accessories; plumbing, painting & electrical supplies; hardware and more 524 Third St.

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Cross & Crown Ayden Chamber Member Christian book & gift store that offers Bibles, study aids, curriculum, promotional products & branded merchandise, church supplies, music and more 3928 Lee St. mycrossandcrown.com 252-746-612

Happy’s Emporium Ayden Chamber member Over 25 shops in one vintage store located in downtown, featuring unique one-of-a-kind items 534 Third St. 252-746-2188 Happysemproium@gmail. com facebook.com/shophappys

Doug Henry Ford of Ayden Ayden Chamber Member New Ford & pre-owned car dealer; automotive service & repair 4057 Lee St. 252-746-6171 doughenryfordofayden.net

Kreative Kreations Quick Shop Party and event planners 4280 Lee St. 252-304-2300 kreativekreations.as.me

Edwards Pharmacy Pharmacy and retail store with general merchandise, clothing gifts, discount items, fishing gear and more including a grill that serves breakfast and lunch.

131 Third St. 252-746-3126 Edwardspharmacy.org

(252) 753-2139

Main Office 3714 N Main St. P.O. Drawer 49 Farmville, NC 27828

Addelyn Esposito dances during a scene from Smiles and Frowns production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the Ayden Community Arts Center on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011. (File photo)

Goldsboro Office 109 E Walnut St. P.O. Box 1776 Goldsboro, NC 27533

Guns Unlimited of Ayden Gun, outdoor equipment store 560 E. Third St. 252-746-2102

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Langley Computers Ayden Chamber member A full-service computer store, on-site repair, new computer systems; services such as copying, faxing, scanning, emailing and more 542 Third St. 252-746-9600 langleycomputers.com langleycomputers542@ gmail.com Linda’s Florist Flower shop 510 Second St. 252-746-3569 lindasfloristandcreations. com

Winter 2023

Louie’s Promotional Products Ayden Chamber Member Full line of quality apparel that can be decorated by screen printing or embroidery; full line of promotional products 538 E. Third St. 252-413-8520 louiedixon0824@gmail.com companycasuals.com/LouiesPromotionalProducts/start.jsp M.E.D. Community Thrift Store Ayden Chamber Member Thrift Store specializing in new and slightly used household items, furniture, quality clothing items and more; a 501C3 nonprofit organization created to help fund the charitable Foundation for Educational Development & Save A Life programs and the homeless; in-kind gifts, cash & pledge donations accepted 919-274-6117 or 919-798-6990 facebook.com/medcommunityts medcommunityts@gmail.com medcommunitythriftstore.jimdofree. com Medlin Chevrolet Chevrolet dealer; new & pre-owned vehicles; automotive service & repair 6246 N.C. 11 S 877-241-4336 medlinchevrolet.com Quilt Lizzy Ayden Chamber member

Spill the Beans owner Rolland Stewart pours a cup at the Third Street coffee and wine shop.

(File photo)

Fabric store offering patterns and anything imaginable for quilting and embroidery; legendary classes and events; quilt-finishing; located in the recently renovated 100-year-old Worthington Building, a 3,500 square foot space 4260 S. Lee St. 252-746-1590 quiltlizzyayden.com Reaves Auto Sales Pre-owned vehicles 115 Faith Baptist Road 252-746-2452 reavesautosale.com Tripp’s Tire Pros Ayden Chamber Member

Auto repair & tire shop 4187 East Ave. tony@trippstire.com 252-746-3311 Trippstire.com

Groceries and more Ayden ABC Store of Pitt County Liquor store 246 W. Third St 252-746-8081 Food Lion In-store shopping, curbside pickup 120 NC-102 252-746-8907 foodlion.com Piggly Wiggly Longstanding supermarket chain 144 Third St. #D 252-746-4041 Pigglywigglystores.com Tienda El Campesino Mexican goods store that sells products such as Abuelita chocolate, Mexican bread, chips, candy, blankets, flags & banners 249-B Third St. 252-560-1611

Veronica Cabriones shows off her baked goods at Pequeño Mexican Lindo, a bakery specializing in Mexican bread and three milk (tres leches) cake. (File photo)

Winter 2023

Ayden Magazine

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Centuries on display

A display case at the Ayden Museum holds commemorative plates, books and other items that are part of the museum's new Historic Churches of Ayden exhibit. (Photos by Pat Gruner)

Churches past, present remembered at ever-growing Ayden Museum

By Pat Gruner

T

he newest exhibit at the Ayden Museum pays homage to churches that have stood in the area of the town for over a century, as well as the many tribulations those entities have faced.

“Historic Churches of Ayden” was unveiled at the 2023 Ayden Collard Festival and highlights the history of more than a dozen area churches that museum Director Andrea Norris researched at length. Their histories, condensed to a paragraph from sometimes hundreds of pages of records, trace the stories of faith in a diverse, ever-developing town.

“Having grown up in Ayden, I have always known the role churches have played in our everyday life, particularly before the advent of television and social media,” Norris said. “Churches were your social outlet, the place to connect with friends and for teenagers to

Winter 2023

The First Baptist Church of Ayden, founded 1892, sits at the corner of Blount and Third streets. The church has expanded over the years and in 1959 survived a fire that destroyed many records and its interior.

connect with each other. I felt a church exhibit would give our entire community a chance to learn about each other’s church’s history and reflect on its role in Ayden’s history.”

Framed photos of the 16 churches

Ayden Magazine

with their histories line a hallway in the museum leading into a room where visitors can look at memorabilia such as plates or books issued by the churches.

One such book is a cookbook from the Original Free Will Baptist Church that

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“Historic Churches of Ayden,” with creative arrangement and display by Phil Barth, is on display at the Ayden Museum. The exhibit highlights 16 churches that have stood in the area for 100 years or more. It is the 10th exhibit at the museum at 554 Second St. (Contributed photo)

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Ayden Magazine

features some parishioners’ favorite recipes.

Norris said the first church in Ayden, Norris Little Creek Original Free Will Baptist Church on Edwards Bridge Road, was founded between 1727-1748. It sits in a low-lying area west of Contentnea Creek in Greene County, but it has an Ayden address.

It remains one of the oldest churches in the original Free Will Baptist denomination and has grown from a 20by-30 foot log cabin into its present form. The new building, which was constructed in 1880, weathered floods from Hurricane Floyd in 1999 when more than 3 feet of water flowed into the church, causing extensive damage.

Many churches included in the exhibit have weathered various kinds of adversity.

Pleasant Plain United Holy

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Church no longer sits in its home at the corner of Pleasant Plain and Jacksontown roads. For 139 years, the church had brought in four generations of worshipers.

In the early hours of April 28, 2020, the church caught fire. That same day, the small sanctuary with the motto “Little white church on the corner where everybody is somebody,” was gone.

Its spirit, however, remains. Pastor Scottie Rodgers, who witnessed the fire that consumed his home away from home, continues to meet and now broadcasts sermons over social media so that its memory is not erased. The exhibit, Norris hopes, will help with that.

“We have so much material here that we’ve collected,” she said. “We had such an overflow. What we’re thinking about is, once a month, feature a church and let them come in and see what we’ve done.”

One of the churches featured in the exhibit, St. James Episcopal Church, founded circa 1900 on First Street, moved to Greenville in 1981 to become

the home of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. The original church’s last rector had left in 1966, leaving the church without a priest. It operated only for burials and held its last of such ceremonies in 1972 for Julia Elliott Dixon.

Moves for churches also were seen within the town. A team of oxen carried Ayden United Methodist Church from its original site on Third and Lee streets to its current home at 460 Third St. in 1926.

“Standard Oil of New Jersey had paid us $10,000 for our lot,” Norris said.

“They didn’t want the church. Unlike a lot of churches, which modernize, we didn’t. The story goes, they put it on rollers and pulled it by ox to where it is now.”

“Historic Churches of Ayden” is the 10th exhibit at the museum which resides in the former Dixon Medical Building. Others include dedications to the town’s academic history, military connection and barbecue pedigree.

The next exhibit being developed revolves around three historic cemeteries — the Ayden African American Cultur-

Want to visit? » The Ayden Museum, 554 Second St.,is open from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. most Thursdays through Saturdays.

It is open from 3-7 p.m. the first Friday of each month in conjunction with Ayden First Fridays. Visit aydenhistoricalandartssociety.com. al Cemetery, North Eastern Cemetery and Blount Cemetery. The museum also is moving closer to its plan for a mural based on an iconic 1890 photo of the Ayden train depot, which has since been torn down.

“Since it was torn down it is our way of keeping alive how Ayden was founded,” Norris said.

More than 400 people have visited the museum so far this year.

“Ayden’s history has so many interesting aspects,” Norris said, “and the variety of these exhibits illustrates, in my mind, the depth and uniqueness of our history.”

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Winter 2023

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Pleasant Plain United Holy Church, on the left, as it was seen prior to an April 28, 2020, fire that decimated it. The 139-year-old building which housed its historically Black congregation, including four generations of worshipers, continues in spirit at a new meeting location and via social media. (Contributed photos)

Hayden and Burney Carraway, from left, hold a sign used by Burney’s father, Sidney, after he started Carraway Typewriter in 1962.

The staff at Carraway Office Solutions includes, from left, Burney Carraway, Hayden Carraway, Kate Berry-Dixon, Vanessa Mayo, Biggi O’Neal, Christina Berry-Dixon and Curtiss Baker.

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Ayden Magazine

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Book celebrate Minges family success as company prepares for new era

By Ginger Livingston

W

ith a centennial anniversary approaching, a third generation scion of a local company wanted to document the history of his family’s business for future generations.

And in the midst of doing so, the company began an expansion and evolution expected to take it into its next century.

“Celebrating 100 Years in the Soft Drink Business: The Story of L.L. Minges & M.O. Minges” by John Franklin Minges III, tells the story of the first 100 years of what would become Minges Bottling Group, which established its headquarters in Ayden in 2003, 80 years after the Minges brothers took over an Orange Crush bottler in Greenville in 1923. The book is available at www.Amazon.com and www.barnesandnoble.com.

Minges said he has memories of his great-grandfather, Miles Otho Minges, who died when John Minges was a child, but realized a lot of his family don’t know the generations who laid the foundation for what is now Minges Bottling Group.

“What I wanted to do was to try and capture the history for the fourth and fifth generations, it would be just a name to them and they wouldn’t understand the full story. Of course I didn’t know the whole story,” Minges said.

Going all in Minges started by exploring when the family came to the United States from Germany and parents of Luther Lester and M.O. He also always wondered why two brothers from Statesville would sell a farm, leave their jobs and travel more

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An aerial photograph of the Orange Crush bottling plant that was located on Dickinson Avenue in Greenville. (Photos contributed by the Minges family)

than 230 miles to operate an Orange Crush bottling plant in Greenville, a city that had five other soft drink bottling companies in operation in 1923.

“To me, that’s the epitome of them going all in,” Minges said.

He said it’s particularly amazing because at the time Luther Lester Minges had eight of his 11 children and M.O. Minges had four of his eventual six children when they moved. “Everyone of them was under the age of 10,” Minges said, adding he can’t imagine what the two men told their wives when they announced the sale of the farm and the move.

“I was trying to figure out what in the world possessed these two guys and what made them do it,” Minges said.

Luther Lester’s family had a written history that they shared with Minges. He also researched old newspaper articles.

Both brothers had worked numerous jobs over the years, including farming and in the railroad industry. M.O. was

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a telegraph operator and Luther Lester was a sweet potato farmer prior to the move. They had a brother who had worked on the railroad but returned to college, became a dentist and moved to Rocky Mount.

Although it’s not definitive, Minges said he thinks the brothers may have been influenced by a soft drink convention that was held in Statesville some months before they moved.

“My guess is probably M.O. was aware of that so he may have sat in on a meeting,” Minges said. “I don’t have any definitive proof but it was very shortly after that convention that they ended up making the decision to leave and move to Greenville.” He also found out that a man from Statesville took over the Wilson Orange Crush bottling company when the Minges moved to Greenville.

The brothers also were likely influenced by a national advertising campaign Orange Crush had at the time.

Winter 2023

Pepsi takes off The brothers became Pepsi-Cola franchisees in 1935, with some reluctance, Minges said.

Pepsi-Cola, invented by Caleb Bradham in 1893, went bankrupt the same time the Minges were buying their bottling company. Having seen sugar prices skyrocket during World War I, Bradham had bought sugar futures, believing the price would continue to escalate. Bradham was left with a lot of expensive sugar that he couldn’t use and couldn’t sell when its price normalized.

The company was sold to Charles Guff and relocated to Virginia after a second bankruptcy, Minges said.

Guff turned things around in 1935 when he began selling a 12-ounce bottle of Pepsi-Cola for a nickel, the same price of traditional 6-ounce soft drinks.

The change was easy because Prohibition has left lots of empty beer bottles in warehouses. Pepsi also had a jingle that became so popular that it was played on jukeboxes; “Pepsi-Cola hits the spot/ 12 full ounces that’s a lot/ Twice as much for a nickel too/ Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you.”

Pepsi sales skyrocketed and Guff began offering franchises to bottlers.

Minges said Luther Lester and M.O., wanting to give something to their children, took franchises locally and in other states.

M.O.’s franchise covered 13 counties in eastern North Carolina.

“Within a few years, by 1937 maybe, we couldn’t keep up with sales of Pepsi and they dropped Orange Crush,” Minges said. The 12-ounce bottle was a gold mine.

Eventually there were three Minges bottling companies based out of Greenville, Kinston and New Bern.

Good ol’

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John Minges holds the book he wrote to document his family’s business success: “Celebrating 100 Years in the Soft Drink Business: The Story of L.L. Minges & M.O. Minges”.

(Photo by Ginger Livingston)

Mountain Dew The next great business move came in 1962 when Minges Bottling became the first franchise bottler of Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew, orginially a lemon-line drink, was brought to North Carolina by Herman and Richard Minges, sons of L.L. Minges and cousin to Hoyt Minges, the company president at the time.

The Minges cousins had purchased a Virginia company that made concentrates for independent bottlers of orange and grape drinks. They modified Mountain Dew’s flavor by using orange pulp and the drink’s popularity took off, said Jeff Minges, current president and CEO of Minges Bottling Group.

Hoyt Minges brought Mountain Dew to the attention of Don Kendall, then the president of the Pepsi-Cola company.

“He said, ‘Don, you need to come down and look how this product is performing in this market,’” Jeff Minges said.

“Especially when the weather was hot and humid down here people wanted a product that would quench thirst, but also had an energy kick because it had a lot of caffeine in it. It also was

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low carbonated so you were able to kind of guzzle it and you could drink it fast. The young children loved it. The Baby Boomers really jumped on it,” Jeff Minges said.

Kendall was convinced and Hoyt Minges played a critical role in negotiating the sale.

By the late 1990s, Jeffrey M. Minges and Thomas E. Minges, as the company’s third generation of leaders, saw that consolidating the Greenville, New Bern and Kinston facilities would bring about operational savings and allow the single company to remain competitive.

On Jan. 1, 2001, Minges Bottling Group came into existence. Two years later, in 2003, the new facility moved into a new headquarters and warehouse outside of Ayden.

Minges said Ayden was selected because it was a good location for covering the entire franchise and had good access to N.C. 11 and other highways.

Familycentered Expansion is launching Minges Bottling Group into its second century of business.

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The company broke ground in April on a 223,375-square-foot warehouse and corporate headquarters located across from its current facility on Pepsi Way. The new building should be complete by mid-January.

It’s a coincidence that the groundbreaking as the company celebrated its 100th anniversary, Jeff Minges said.

The company needed more space because PepsiCo awarded Minges Bottling Group the distribution of Gatorade products to large format retailers and supermarkets. PepsiCo believes bottling groups like Minges can get products on store shelves faster, Jeff Minges said. Minges Bottling Group’s board of directors approved the deal in the fall of 2022.

Along with a larger facility, Minges Bottling Group is beginning the transition to the fourth generation of leadership, Jeff Minges said. He is 69 and plans to retire when he is 72, the year after he celebrates his 50th anniversary with the company.

His sons, Miles, currently vice president of sales and marketing, and Landon, vice president of operations and business development, will share the leadership role, he said. He’ll serve in an advisory capacity.

“They are being trained to be the executive team for the future of our company. I am very, very proud of their capabilities and their growth in the past 10 to 20 years,” he said. “Their leadership skills are impeccable. I feel very blessed that we’ve got the leadership in the family that can take it down the

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Members of the Minges family, from left, John “Jack” Minges, Martha Minges Bass, Hoyt Minges, Max Minges, Ray Minges and Forrest Minges who attended the dedication ceremony of Minges Coliseum at East Carolina University in 1968.

road for many, many years to come.”

Along with Miles and Landon, the fourth generation leadership includes Michelle Minges, Jeff Minges’ niece, who is a division manager for full service, which oversees vending machines directly managed by the company. Chris Craft, a cousin, is a key account manager in sales.

“We are proud of all the family involved in the business,” Jeff Minges said.

Always evolving The next 100 years is looking at a changing beverage market. There is a shift from carbonated soft drinks, John Minges said, with people drinking more water, more tea and more isotonic drinks such as Gatorade.

“Pepsi is very tuned in to this, they are listening to the consumer and that is why there are so many different offerings every year of new products,” John Minges said.

“They want to make sure that if the consumer wants that, they’ll be there.” The company also is aware of concerns surrounding calorie con-

sumption and it making a wide array of low and zero calorie products available, Jeff Minges said.

John Minges was Minges Bottling Group’s vice president of personal and public relations until the late 1990s.

He was co-chairman of a state commission on disaster response and recovery that was formed after Hurricane Floyd’s flooding in 1999. He also served on the Governor’s Crime Commission.

He also served one term as a Pitt County commissioner in the early 2000s. “Celebrating 100 Years in the Soft Drink Business” is his third book.

“I am thinking there are probably more books in me.

One I will write specifically for his nieces and nephews … it will probably be about all the things you should know that they don’t teach in school. Some of the bumps and bruises I acquired along the way and how to avoid those,” John Minges said.

John Minges said he always felt truly blessed when working with the company because he got to represent it and family in the community by working with numerous nonprofits.

He later started a company

Ayden Magazine

Jeff Minges, president and CEO of Minges bottling group, helped move the company to Ayden. He plans to turn leadership over to his sons, Landon and Miles, in 2026 after he celebrates his 50th anniversary with the company.

that advised nonprofits.

“My wife said I am the one that has the water tower view and I really do feel like God has given me the gift to be a connector of people. That’s what my next chapter in life will be; to continue working with nonprofits, work with individuals. Try to help them anyway possible,” he said.

Along with members of the Minges family, there’s another group equally responsible for the company’s success, Jeff Minges said.

“We have a commitment to excellence from our frontline people, the guys and girls on the street, the people out there stocking our shelves.

We have a lot of tenure in those positions,” he said. “It adds to the success of a company when you have (tenure) from the frontline people to the senior directors’ table.

“In a company of our size, where we have 220 employees, everybody is vital,” he said.

“Those four departments, warehouse, sales, vending and administrative all work hand in hand to make us successful.”

Winter 2023

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