ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SINKING CREEK
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
A LANDMARK COUNTRY STORE in Craig County burned this week. Now, neighbors are pitching in to help save the remains, with an eye toward rebuilding it.
Here in these parts of Craig County, where you're more likely to spot a deer than a person, there's a general store that dates back to 1867.
The Sinking Creek Store - "General Mdse." as the sign on the building reads - burned early Wednesday morning.
An electrical malfunction near a freezer in a front corner of the store started a roaring blaze that swept up one wall and roared through the wooden rafters above.
Thursday morning, the store's owners, James and Loretta "Sis" Kessinger, were sifting through a charred mess along with their daughter, Suzie Lowman, and a neighbor, Ronnie Wilson.
The plastic on loaves of bread was burned off, and slices of black toast sat neatly in rows on a shelf.
Aerosol cans that heated up and exploded like rockets were scattered across the store's floor, which crunched underfoot like dried leaves.
Wilson and Lowman were working to salvage a smoke-infested batch of camouflage clothing while the Kessingers stood back and took in the scene around them.
"It was a hot one," James Kessinger said.
And he should know.
The Kessingers live about a half-mile from the store on Virginia 42. Kessinger got a phone call about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday from a neighbor, Morris Wallace, who lives across the road from the store.
Wallace had heard gunshots - the fire had heated up a shelf full of ammunition - and he looked out his window and spotted the blaze.
When Kessinger arrived, he grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to put out the flames.
"I knocked it down a couple of times, but it was just too hot," he said.
Minutes later, Craig County firefighters arrived and one, Mike Allen, rushed into the store with a hose in hand.
Aerosol cans and bullets popped around Allen, and a drum of diesel fuel was heating up in one corner of the wooden structure, Kessinger said.
"Boy, that's sure being a good fireman, but it's also a good way to get yourself killed," Kessinger said.
Quick action by a couple of Craig County fire departments along with help from Blacksburg helped save the outer structure of the store and kept the back half - the part built in 1867 - from sustaining any fire damage.
Wilson, who lives in a house just a few yards from the store, slept through most of the commotion.
So did John Price, a farmer whose house is about a football field away.
Wilson said he later told Price that "we were the only people around here who weren't awake."
Thursday, local residents popped in and out of the store to survey the damage.
A farmer, Al Lugar, pulled up in his pickup truck with a load of weathered wood beams. Lugar jumped out, grabbed a ladder and went to work reinforcing a section of the store's roof. He had the job pretty well finished in about a half-hour.
Because of neighbors like Lugar and Wilson, the Kessingers say they plan to rebuild the store with the help of two local men.
"At first, I thought I'd just board it up and let it sit," said James Kessinger, "but all the neighbors and customers told us we have to put it back up."
"Yeah," said Wilson. "This is the place. It's the hangout."
The store - the only one on the 25-mile stretch between New Castle and Newport on Virginia 42 - is as much a part of the community as the rolling hills that surround it.
Local residents stop in to buy gas, order livestock feed, grab a sandwich and a drink, or to just sit on a milk crate and talk about community happenings.
"People come here to get the latest gossip and to tell the tales," "Sis" Kessinger said.
The store is a story in itself. The back half was built by a man named Pete McGuire two years after he returned to Craig County from the Civil War, James Kessinger said. The store doubled as a post office for many years.
In 1948, another owner added fuel pumps and built another room onto the store to accommodate more customers.
The Kessingers purchased the store in 1967.
And while things have changed through the years - there are a lot fewer farmers in Craig County now, and the Food and Drug Administration won't let the Kessingers sell sugar-cured country hams that they haven't inspected - the store and its purpose have remained the same.
"I need some more small nails," Lugar yelled as he reached for another board to patch the roof.
"Things stay pretty busy around here," "Sis" Kessinger said, "and I think that's good."
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. 1. Sinking Creek Store owners Jamesby CNB(left) and Loretta ``Sis'' Kessinger survey some of the damaged
merchandise after the building was gutted
by a fire Wednesday. color. 2. Al Lugar, a friend of store owners
James and Loretta ``Sis'' Kessinger, nails boards to prevent wind
damage. Graphic: Map by staff.