1949 was a year of economic growth and positive change. The U.S. was recovering from the losses of WW II, and the ration card was a thing of the past. Across the country little stores began popping up everywhere. Our little corner of the world was no different. In Fulks Run, there were eight country stores within four miles of each other. (Dave Fulk’s on Dry River; Crider Brothers [Crider Brothers store later became M & R Feed & Hardware, Valleyland Opry House, Valleyland, and now is Twice As Nice Thrift Store]; M. C. Estep’s on Rt 259 [later became Billy Bare, then Carroll Yankey and now Central Valley Truss, and Pete & Naomi Custer’s, [later Mac’s Superette.]; in the Genoa area there was Doug Brenneman’s; Lizzie Custer’s, and Gertie Shoemaker’s; and Lloyd Hoover’s at Cootes Store.) This was also the year Garnett Turner opened the Fulks Run Grocery.
The current Brocks Gap Road (Rt. 259) had been completed only about six years before Fulks Run Grocery opened. Smaller roads like Runions Creek still forded the creeks or had low concrete bridges which flooded easily. Most people had little reason to travel to Harrisonburg since factory jobs in the area were just being established. A majority of local men were farmers and their wives were full-time homemakers who made their own baked goods, canned their produce and butchered their own hogs. The local grocery store was an integral part of their daily lives.
Because folks stayed close to home, Garnett’s store offered a little bit of everything. According to his daughter, Pat Turner Ritchie, Garnett “sold new tires and fixed flat tires and innertubes. Clerks went outside in all weather conditions to pump gas, check oil, and wash windshields.” And who drove to town to find a hardware store when Fulks Run Grocery stocked all the necessities? Need a stovepipe? Garnett had it. Want to mail a letter? No problem The Post Office was in a corner of the store, and Garnett sold stamps and money orders any time the store was open which, in the early days, was from 7:30 am to 9:00 pm.
But let’s begin at the beginning. In May of 1946, Garnett finished his time with the United States Navy and moved back to Fulks Run. He began civilian life by working for Herman B. Turner, electrical contractor. In the fall of that same year, Garnett took the postmaster exam and the following year, became postmaster of Fulks Run (he rented a small building from Laney Custer). In 1948, he bought a quarter of an acre of land from David Fawley and hired men to build a 24’ x 40’ store building. (Builders were Lloyd G. Turner and Howard Halterman. Day laborers were Wayne Turner and Ervie Carr.)
In January of 1949, he moved the Post Office to the new store building and opened Fulks Run Grocery along with one other employee, Virginia Ann Fawley Hulvey. Their first day sales totaled $53.00. The store had no meat case or refrigerator, so there was no fresh milk. Soda pop was $.05 a bottle, bread $.12 a loaf.
In the spring of 1949, Fulks Run Grocery added another short-term service to the community. Dr. Charles Hertzler, founder of Green Valley Clinic at Bergton, opened a temporary office in the store basement. He left in November when the clinic was completed.
1949 brought yet another new beginning for Garnett, he and his fiancée, Lena Albrite were married in November and moved into the store apartment.
The 1950s saw many positive changes for Fulks Run Grocery: in 1951 they bought a big meat case ($400), a first for the area. In 1956, the Turners moved to the house next door to the store, and in 1957, they expanded the store by 10 feet. In 1958, Garnett cured 25 hams in his basement—the birth of the Turner Ham legacy.
The 1960s brought more alterations and expansions, and in January of 1969, Garnett sold the store to his brother, Miles E. Turner, and another family of Turner children grew up in the store.
Julie Turner Sengul, Miles and Marcella’s youngest daughter, remembers playing the harmonica on the pop cases with John Hess, a store regular. She says, “I also remember playing and pretending I was cashier (then worked many years as a real cashier, haha!), and playing house downstairs.”
Bagging candy was one of eight-year-old Audrey (Turner) McLendon’s jobs. “Mom created an assembly line. One kid bagged, one kid taped, and Mom used the scales to figure out how many ounces were in the bag and the cost of each bag. I remember feeling important because I was big enough to help.”
Ron Turner recollects one of his jobs: “Darrel (Miles and Marcella Turner’s son) and I were in charge of the pop bottle return. Sodas used to come in glass bottles, and you had to pay a deposit. When you returned them, you got a nickel per bottle, I believe. So, Darrel and I would cart the wooden pop crates full of empties down to the basement and sort them. Pepsi here…Dr. Pepper there…Coke over there…We had some handmade signs on poster board that still hang down in the basement. The soda guys would park along the eastern side of the store and unload and pick up the returnables. We’d get a couple dollars for the empties and then split the money.”
Even though the Turners worked hard, they still had time for fun. Ron says, “In the 80s I came past the store one night and the lights were on and some obvious activity (was) happening. One of the locals that hung out in the parking lot after hours put his truck in reverse by accident. He took out the big picture window and 3-4 cinderblocks beneath. Miles and Dad were flying RC (radio controlled) planes, so we put a previously crashed plane in the opening! I got a picture of Uncle Miles standing there with a surprised look on his face holding the RC transmitter.”
Garnett and Lena were both huge supporters of the Fulks Run Ruritan Club. Ron remembers “Mom would make ham sandwiches for the lawn party every summer, often on the family kitchen table. One summer I suggested taking the bone out of the hams before they cooked it….it worked, and it was the beginning of boneless ham.”
The ham sandwiches continued to be popular. Ron says, “Uncle Miles and Marcella started the sandwich fundraising part of the business. Many groups have sold Turner Ham sandwiches to raise money. Their largest order to date was for the Broadway Little League—right at 5000.
Audrey thought her ham house days were over in 1982 when she moved to Northern Virginia. But when she and her husband moved back to Harrisonburg in 1994, she started working for her brother, Ron, part time in the ham house. This time in sales. “I drove up and down Rt. 11 stopping at all the little restaurants and places I thought might be interested in buying ham. We picked up a few new wholesale customers.”
In 1995, Audrey worked for her uncle Miles and aunt Marcella at the store. Audrey says, “I was shocked to see that they even sold frozen ham broth and bones. Marcella said they sold everything except the squeal!”
In true small-town fashion, the local store holds the heart of the community. Audrey remembers, “Fulks Run Grocery has always been information central in the community. I wouldn’t have believed it until I came back to work in the 90s. It seems that everyone at the store knew what was going on in the community; someone would stop by to tell us or would call to ask about a situation and later we seemed to find out about it. It is a hub of the community.”
Fast forward to 1992: Garnett’s son Ron and his wife Peggie bought the ham curing operation, and in 1996, they bought the store operation from Miles and Marcella.
In 2020, the famous Ham Van became the face of the business during COVID times. The Turners were able to keep folks supplied with ham even during lockdown.
Last August, the store changed hands again. Ron and Peggie Turner sold the store to Garnett and Lena’s grandson, Chad Ritchie, and his wife, Anna. Jared Bowser is the General Manager.
On June 14, the Fulks Run Grocery family will celebrate yet another milestone: 75 years in business! They invite everyone to join them as they remember the past and look forward to many more years of service to the community.
Audrey says, “A lot of incredible people have worked at the store or the ham house over the years. I believe I may be the only paid employee that worked for Dad and Mom, Miles and Marcella, and Ron and Peggie. “…My nephew, Chad, and his wife Anna, the new owners have agreed to hire me as a greeter the next time I am in the store, so I will be the only employee that will have been paid by four generations of owners. I better go practice opening the door and greeting customers so I can earn my quarter fair and square.”
