/ SOUTHERN LIFE Spotlight
Clockwise From Left: Butch Chastain, cranking up the engine, a classic International Harvester Chastain rebuilt and refurbished, fresh ground grits
SOUTHERNSPOTLIGHT Butch Chastain (Food)
Flying Farmer By Koryn Yarosz
I met Butch Chastain, the “Flying Farmer,” on a blue sky January morning. As I walked into his airplane hanger, my jaw dropped. The space was studded with old-school, refurbished red tractors from the fifties and 26 belt engines - all varying in size and color. My jaw dropped even further when I found out that Chastain refurbished all of the equipment himself and grinds his own grits without the full use of his right arm. According to Chastain’s wife, Susanne, this former “pilot-turned-Grits Man” has always been mechanical. “Before he was flying planes, he was fixing them,” Susanne mused. As a young man, Chastain attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautic University for Aviation Maintenance Management in Florida. He joined the Air Force during the sixties, and worked as a flying crew chief, traveling in the planes and repairing them as needed. At the end of the Vietnam war, America needed pilots, and Chastain wanted to fly - so he signed up for pilot training classes and began flying cargo planes. It was during his time as a pilot out of the Charleston Air Force Base that he met his Susanne, who later became his wife and the mother of his daughter. Later, he retired from the Air Force, leaving behind a legacy of skilled piloting and aviation maintenance. 18
AZALEAMAG.COM / SPRING 2012
After his retirement, Chastain continued flying planes for seventeen years until his stroke in early 2004. The stroke took away most of the movement in his right hand, but this did not stop him from diving into refurbishing belt engines and mills - a skill he had picked up during his retirement. Belt engines, a pre-factory staple for every farmer, were previously used to pump water, grind corn, separate milk, and perform countless other tasks. Chastain refurbished all of his 26 vintage engines on his own, including his oldest, which dates back to 1917. His passion for these mechanical monstrosities led him to build his cherished Flying Farmer Grits Setup, a grits-producing machine that consists of a belt engine and a mill fixed on top of a trailer bed. I watched Chastain, clad in overalls and flannel, effortlessly line the grits trailer up with the hitch of his truck, attach it, and steadily steer the setup out of the hanger. He then turned a number of cranks to make sure the trailer had enough support and was properly leveled. As he coaxed the engine into firing up, I could hear the pounding sound reverberating deeply off the back wall of the hanger—a testimony to Butch Chastain’s strength and ingenuity. His grits are simple - ground corn, no preservatives. They are so fresh, they have to be kept in the refrigerator. He sells each 1-pound bag of 100% stone ground grits for $2.00 at the Summerville Farmer’s Market. He tells me he keeps the price low because he “just wants break even.” For Chastain, refurbishing the vintage equipment and grinding grits is all about community. He enjoys sharing his stories with his customers and prides himself on providing them with a unique experience. If you are interested in buying grits from Butch Chastain, “The Flying Farmer,” you can call 843.871.5796 or go visit him at the Summerville Farmer’s Market during the first weekend in April. Be sure to check out his famous scrapbook and grab a simple grits recipe from Susanne.