ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 30, 1996 TAG: 9612300013
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SINKING CREEK
SERIES: whatever happned to...? - a look back to 1996
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
A JANUARY FIRE DID MORE than torch timbers; it disrupted the everyday goings-on of a small Craig County community.
There's a new door and a tile floor and the paint is fresh. But other than that, the Sinking Creek Store is no different than it's ever been.
And that suits the people of the Craig County outback just fine.
The general store - which is the only place to stop for gas and supplies between New Castle and Newport on Virginia 42 - was gutted by a late night blaze in January. Firefighters managed to save the shell of the building because a neighbor was awakened by the pop of ammunition exploding in the store from the heat of the fire.
The blaze was a blow to the farmers and country people who live in the community known as Sinking Creek. The store, part of which was built shortly after the Civil War, is the heart of the community. You could get anything from a wash tub to a pack of Rook playing cards, and everything came with a serving of the latest local gossip.
The owners of the store, James and Sis Kessinger, loved the store too much to close it for good.
So, a few weeks after the fire, they hired some help, and, along with volunteers from the community, rebuilt it.
It took only about three months. The store reopened in April.
Sis Kessinger, who has become a fixture behind the counter after 30 years, is back in the spot she loves most.
Rick Saunders, a farm hand, pulled into the store to get some gas last week - "I couldn't feed my cows if I couldn't come here and fill up with gas first," he said.
Inside, he and Sis struck up a conversation.
"I don't know what the farmers would do around here if you weren't here," he said.
"I told you that you're going to miss me when I'm gone," Kessinger said.
"You're going to be a hard one to replace," Saunders replied.
While Saunders and Kessinger talked, Marion Ross was sitting in a rocker in front of an oil stove on the other side of the store. He'd been there a while, just enjoying the day.
One of Kessinger's six grandchildren was busy pulling off one of her socks in her playpen a few feet away.
There's no doubt that everyone who enters the store feels at home.
The sign on the door reads: "Welcome Country Friends."
You might see more merchandise at a big city shopping mall, but there are a couple of items at the Sinking Creek Store you'd have a hard time finding: camouflage bibbed-overalls and Sinking Creek sweat shirts and T-shirts.
Kessinger said a woman drove from Pearisburg recently to pick up a pair of the overalls. She had seen someone wearing a pair at a store in Christiansburg and asked where she could get them.
Kessinger also ordered the sweat shirt and T-shirts. Printed on the front: "Beautiful downtown Sinking Creek" above a picture of the store.
"They've been selling pretty good," she said.
So has the hospitality.
"Come on back and see us," James Kessinger said. "We'll be here."
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. 1. The Sinking Creek Store, guttedby CNBby fire in January, reopened in April. Loretta "Sis" Kessinger runs
the Craig County store along with her husband, James. 2. Rick
Saunders, who owns a herd of 300 cows, fuels up at the Sinking Creek
Store. color. KEYWORDS: YEAR 1996