Board of Trustees James P. Carmichael Larry Godwin R. Lee Bailey Roland Hendon James H. Bowman III
David Henderson Jerry Mason Raymond C. Long Leo Bomian
402 Main Street West P.O. Box 277 Rainsville, AL 35986 (256) 638-4957 fax www.smec.coop In case of power outages, you may call us 24 hours a day: Rainsville-Powell-FyffeSylvania 256-638-2153 Bryant-Higdon-Flat RockHenagar-IderPisgah 256-657-5137 Fort Payne 256-845-1511 Valley Head-Mentone 256-635-6344 Collinsville-Geraldine 256-659-2153 Section-Langston-Marshall Co. 1-877-843-2512
Section Dairy Bar Remembered By Diane B. Hale
Thirty-one years ago David and Pam Presley, a young married couple from Section, had good jobs at the Monsanto plant. They made a good living and never gave a thought about changing jobs or working anywhere else. That is, until they both got laid off from the plant and had no income or any idea how they would support their household. Pam said they were discussing their options one day when her mother Sarah Coffey casually asked “why don’t y’all buy the dairy bar?” Pam brushed her off by saying something like, “We don’t know anything about running a dairy bar.” Her mother said “well, you could learn, couldn’t you?” Pam said she remembers thinking, Well, I guess we could. Homer Stringer had built the Section Dairy Bar in 1965 and it was a landmark located near the only traffic light in town. In the beginning, Mr. Stringer hired Ollie Woods and Ruby Jones to work for him. The two ladies created their own way of doing things and the food was delicious. They built the business from the start and it quickly became a popular spot for locals. They served steak sandwiches for 50 cents, double decker burgers for 54 cents and hamburger baskets with fries for 44 cents.
“In the early days, Section Dairy Bar was a place for teenagers to hang out with their friends on the weekend. Back then it was the happening place to be with cars circling the business until closing,” David remembers. After the inside dining area was added, Pam started buying vintage posters of Lucille Ball, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Andy Griffith and other posters advertising familiar products to hang. They were symbols of the past and most importantly the end of an era. By 1981 when the Presleys were looking for work, the business had gone though several owners. They kept thinking about Pam’s mother saying they should buy it. Finally they decided to talk with the owner about purchasing the business. “It all seemed to happen pretty quickly. Before you knew it, we had bought ourselves a business,” David laughs. “One of our best decisions,” the couple agree, “was to persuade Miss Ollie Woods and Miss Ruby Jones to work for us and teach us the business,” they said. And “learn” is exactly what the couple had to do. “We were young and didn’t know one thing about running this place. I guess we just thought it would all work
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AlaLiving December 12.indd 4
11/19/12 3:09 PM