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ongtime Middleburg resident Ed Wright has collected a number of old photographs from the town and surrounding areas, many of them supplied by Jim Poston. Every month, Wright, a retired executive after many years at the Middleburg Bank, takes readers down memory lane with recollections of what used to be.
Photo by Leonard Shaprio
T
he sound of music is what I remember most about the old Esso gas station in Middleburg. That’s where two wonderful men, Welby Kenny and Herman Poston, often got together to play their respective instruments, often accompanied by other locals who wandered in to strum or sing along. Mr. Kenny was on the banjo. He lived in Upperville, worked for some years at the old B&A grocery store and eventually became the postmaster in Upperville. Mr. Poston was on the fiddle. He was in the fifth grade band at the Bluemont School when someone handed him one, and he was a selftaught natural who never had a lesson and played beautifully all his life. He also was a businessman who bought the Esso business around 1950. It was on Washington Street, right where several shops—Three Crowns, Olio and Trace of Love—are currently located. The gas station building and property were owned back then by the Luck family, who lived down the street. For that reason, it was
always known as Luck’s Service Station. Welby Kenny on the Mr. Poston owned the Esso franchise and banjo and Herman another building in town which housed the Poston on the fiddle long-gone but never-forgotten Hamburger Hut, often referred to as the “amburger ut” because the Hs were missing from the sign out front. But music was definitely his passion, and the jam sessions both inside and outside the photographer, one of main service station building truly provided a the best around. But real sense of community and just plain old fun. the picture of the Esso Many people would gather around and listen, station accompanying and occasionally someone might even go solo. this story was actually According to a story in a 2004 edition of Photos courtesy of Jim Poston taken by Mark Ewing. Middleburg Life, their musical repertoire was A view of the old Esso gas station taken from the water tower One day, he climbed quite varied. up the Middleburg “They’d start off with Comin’ ‘Round the moment of local fame.” water tower to get the Mountain, Won’t You Come Home, Bill Bailey, Mr. Poston was often asked to play at local shot. I don’t know if he ever got permission or not, Turkey in the Straw, a couple of Irish jigs and a whole bunch of songs everybody knew the words weddings and other social functions. For those but it’s a great picture of a wonderful Middleburg to,” the article said. “Sometimes everybody would occasions, he’d change into his signature white institution until the property was converted into sing along…or when things really got going, spill suit, quite a difference from his usual work-day its current configuration in 1982. The music is gone, but for some of us oldout around the gas pumps, dancing under the checkered flannel shirt and overalls. stars. And occasionally, an enthusiastic (though Mr. Poston’s son, Jimmy, worked for many timers, the memory still lingers. n not necessarily talented) soloist would claim his years for Safeway and has always been a talented
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