THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9501310113
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
Terry Gibbs would drive from his Norfolk home all the way to Brinkley's Market down in old Princess Anne County just to get one of Elizabeth Brinkley's sandwiches.
``They're good, the way a sandwich should be made,'' Gibbs said as he watched Mrs. Brinkley slather real mayonnaise on big slabs of white Mary Jane Bread.
Fortunately Gibbs doesn't have to make that drive. He works at Pleasant Ridge Stables and he can pick up one of Mrs. Brinkley's sandwiches for lunch most any day, just like other farm workers and residents in the Charity Neck Road area often do.
Folks can stop by Mrs. Brinkley's country store anytime between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. every day but Sunday to purchase one of her good old-fashioned sandwiches to go. They are made on fluffy, store-bought bread with a choice of mayonnaise or mustard or both, of American cheese or Swiss or both and meats like ham, corned beef and turkey.
``They are good sandwiches just like mama makes,'' said Margie Garrett who tends the cash register for Mrs. Brinkley.
The secret is: no special dressings and no fancy breads like croissants or baguettes are in Mrs. Brinkley's fare. The only fancy term is ``combination'' which means tomato and lettuce added. And sandwiches cost in the $2 range, Smithfield ham being the most expensive at $2.50.
`` Oh, I have wheat bread,'' Mrs. Brinkley added, ``but it's 10 cents more for wheat.''
Although the selection is simple, Mrs. Brinkley tries to give folks exactly the kind of sandwich they want, just like mama used to do, too.
``The one that gets you,'' she said, laughing, ``is the one that stands here and tells you how to make the sandwich. Mustard on one side of the bread, mayonnaise on the other and meat against the mustard and cheese against the mayonnaise . . . ''
At 72, Mrs. Brinkley has seen it all when it comes to sandwich particulars. She's been making sandwiches since 1963 when her husband Jack Brinkley and a friend George Denney owned a store in Kempsville, where she still lives. The store, Denney and Brinkley, had its beginnings in 1938 on Virginia Beach Boulevard.
In 1968 when Denney retired, the Brinkleys opened their own market on Charity Neck Road. Although Jack Brinkley died in 1984, Mrs. Brinkley has hardly missed a beat since.
The market is a little country store where folks can buy soft drinks, soap powders, canned goods and other staples. It's a place where neighbors can stop by and pass a little time talking with Mrs. Brinkley and Garrett. There are a couple of stools up near the cash register, one for Mrs. Brinkley and one for customers.
Sweet pies, cookies, chips and soft drinks are always available. And in the mornings, so is hot coffee, the best bargain in town.
``It's the only place where they can get a 6-ounce cup of coffee for 10 cents,'' Mrs. Brinkley said, proudly.
Bypass surgery slowed her down a few years ago, and last year she was in the hospital for pneumonia and heart failure. After each setback, the 93-pound bundle of energy is back at the cutting board, running big chunks of meat through the electric slicer. She's spreading that bread and cutting those sandwiches in two, despite the aches and pains of rheumatoid arthritis.
``She started coming in here three days after she got out of the hospital last year,'' Garrett said.
``You can sit at home,'' Mrs. Brinkley responded, ``and drive yourself nuts.''
The only concession Mrs. Brinkley has made to age is to leave Garrett in charge of the market at around 3:30 p.m. until it closes at 6 p.m. That way Mrs. Brinkley gets back to her Kempsville home before the traffic gets too heavy. She is back on the job at 9 the next morning, however.
Winter is slow, Mrs. Brinkley said. She may make only 25 sandwiches a day this time of year. But in a year, she has made as many as 11,000 sandwiches altogether. And if customer Gibbs is any example, every one of them pleased the taste buds, too.
``I haven't had a sandwich that good,'' Gibbs said, ``since I was in Scranton, N.C., 20 years ago.''
P.S. The Hows and Whys of Protecting Environmentally Important Areas is the topic of a Back Bay Restoration Foundation meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Princess Anne Recreation Center. The speaker is Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Mike Kensler and the meeting is open to the public.
EXPLORE THE LIFE OF AN 18TH CENTURY CHILD at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Francis Land House. Felicity's World is free with admission but reservations are required.
Call 340-1732.
GROUND HOG DAY is tomorrow. Ground hogs and woodchucks are one and the same. They don't live in Virginia Beach, probably because our water table is too high and they can't dig their many-chambered burrows underground. However the appealing rodents can be found as close as Suffolk. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know about
Tidewater traditions and lore? Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter
category 2290. Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARY REID BARROW
Elizabeth Brinkley, 72, has been making sandwiches just like mama's
since 1963. Her country store, Brinkley's Market, is on Charity Neck
Road.
by CNB