Garland E. Faulkner started it all in 1875, taking in young William Henry "Buck" Lawson a few years later and creating a South Boston landmark, Faulkner& Lawson Drug Store.
"Faulkner and Lawson Drug Store has settled down in its new home after more than three quarters of a century of roaming up and down Main Street," announced the Gazette-Virginian in 1959.
It was in 1959 the drug store moved a few doors up the block to its current 413 Main Street address.
Although prescriptions are no longer filled at the store, all other Faulkner&Lawson drug store amenities have continued, including the popular coffee/lunch counter.
Until 1999.
As the new year dawned South Boston mayor, pharmacist and Faulkner&Lawson's owner, Glen Abernathy, announced the drug store would be closed "mid-to-late February" of this year. He wants to sell the building.
"I hate it with a passion. It has been my life and my soul," said Abernathy.
"What I hate to lose is the character, the persona ... The people over the 120 years made it what it was. The people who worked there and those who came in," said Abernathy.
Also mourning the drug store's closing, the "soon-to-be displaced coffee crowd" of 20 or so men who have been meeting each morning at the drug store for decades.
The almost homeless band - still discussing new home options -is none to happy about the drug store's demise.
It is a strong fraternity that gathers about 9:30 a.m., one representing Southside's ties to the tobacco market, farming, textiles, a doctor, newspaper photographer, insurance executive and accountant, among others. All but two members are retired.
Although apparently casual in nature, the gatherings are in fact as orchestrated as a Fortune 500 board meeting, with a bookkeeper to boot.
"We get together and match for coffee at 10 a.m.," explained Jimmy Epps, a regular for 10 to 15 years.
But it is much more than that.
When the youngest member in the set, insurance executive Wayne Smart, strolls in newspapers are put away, jokes stop and serious "matching" begins.
Leading the group of players, Smart flips his coin, announcing heads or tails. The ritual continues with the largest number staying in the toss until one man stands alone, a living oxymoron, "the winner who must pay" the coffee bill for the rest.
Meticulous daily records are kept.
Retired superintendent of sales for the South Boston Tobacco Market Page Loftis dutifully entered T.J. Glascock's name Wednesday as the man to pay. Glascock's coffee tab, $3.35.
"If they buy one day they don't have to match the next," said Enoch Haley, another regular.
Willie Mae Jones, affectionately known as "Grandma" by the coffee crowd, doesn't miss a beat as she continues serving coffee and juice, just as she has the last 22 years.
"One orange juice with ice at the bottom," shot Phil Conner with a smile.
"He always says that," she laughs.
Do men gossip?
"Not as much as women," defended one member.
"A little gossip," admitted Glascock. "Mainly they straighten up the problems of the country. They were going to hang Clinton the other day. And Epps will tell one of his 1934 jokes."
"We talk about everything we know," added Conner.
There's also a lot of kidding.
On a serious note, Grayson Gosney described a chocolate cake he made to celebrate Page Loftis' recent birthday. But he laughed as he recalled another member's birthday cake, one with a single candle and a Viagra pill on top, actually a blue M&M.
Just for a lark, the men also put in a dollar to buy a lottery ticket as a group. Over the years one ticket netted the purchasers about $100 each; another about $3.
Most of all the 10 a.m. match is about getting together for about an hour.
"It's good fellowship," said Epps. And for once the man with a quick smile and even quicker joke was dead serious.

Faulkner & Lawson Drug Store moved to its present location on Main Street in 1959 - Glen Abernathy bought the business from Jennie Phipps Lawson in 1979 - and the following store history appeared in the Thursday, May, 1959 edition of the Gazette-Virginian.

The firm was founded in 1875 by the late Garland E. Faulkner, and it first set up business in a frame building located one door north of Star Warehouse.
Faulkner was a son of the late Dr. Leander Faulkner and Sarah Green Faulkner. He married the former Miss Mary Jordan. From the union came Frank E. Faulkner, only surviving member of the three children. A sister, Mrs. Bessie Faulkner Owen and a brother Dr. Garland Faulkner, are dead.
Early in the 1880's, the firm moved across the street to a building no longer existing - it was torn down to make room for Arch Street some years later.
Later in the 1880's the firm moved to a building on Main Street now occupied by Brooks Funeral Home. It was during this period that a young man by the name of William Henry Lawson came into the business as a clerk. His friends referred to Lawson as "Buck". He was born in Harmony in 1872, a son of the late Thomas T. Lawson and Anna Branch Lawson. Buck had four brothers, Thomas David Branch and Bob, and two sisters, Mrs. Mary Massey and Mrs. James Monroe Reams.
Young Lawson clerked in the drug store while attending the Baltimore College of Pharmacy, later to become the School of Pharmacy of the University of Maryland.
It was about this time that an amputation was performed on a table in the drug store, something of an event back in those days.
There being no hospital in South Boston then, a Negro whose foot was left dangling after a train ran over it was brought to the drug store. Dr. A. Trent Clark sawed off the foot with an ordinary saw while the patient lay in pain on a table. The operation was successful.
The first known telephone in Halifax County was installed in the drug store in the early 1890's. The line ran from the Faulkner home, located where the John Randolph Hotel now stands, to the drug store. An extension line ran to the office of Dr. Clark.
In the summer of 1896 Miss Elizabeth Lundy Wyche of Henderson, N.C. visited her sister, Mrs. Granville Craddock, in South Boston. She met Buck Lawson at the drug store, and it was the beginning of a romance that culminated in their marriage in 1900. The union produced three boys and a girl, the late Wyche and Thomas, William and Miss Jennie Phipps.
Soon after the turn of the century, the drug store moved again, this time to the corner up on Main Street where Carroll's Auto Supply is now located. The outline of the soda fountain may still be seen in the floor.
In 1898 when Buck Lawson finished his pharmacy course at the University of Maryland, he was taken into the drug store by Faulkner and made a partner. Thus was born, in 1898, the Faulkner and Lawson Drug Store.
Early in the century the drug firm handled such sundry items as watches, kerosene, lamp chimneys and spectacles. It carried Lowney's candy, the forerunner of today's Whitman's candies.
Peanuts in a crocuz sack were always at the front door, from which people helped themselves, presumably for pennies, though no record was kept of the free goobers consumed.
The same applies for a keg of Malagua grapes always seen at the front of the store. Oldtimers recall the peanuts and grapes, along with colored glass which always was at the front of the store.
There were actually two bottles in the window, a large one at the bottom, a smaller one on top which served as a stopper for the larger bottle.
One of the favorite delicacies about this time was pineapple ice, made with plain syrup shaved ice and crushed pineapple. Among the favorite drinks were vanilla and lemon sodas, farmers greatly preferring lemon milk shakes and the perennial Cokes.
Ice cream was all homemade, in hand-turned freezers, the most popular flavors being strawberry, raspberry, chocolate and vanilla.
Faulkner and Lawson was the first ice dealer in the county, the ice being cut from Hupp's pond in the winters and stored in an ice house in the backyard of the Faulkner home. Later the ice house was located at the Southern Railway dept. Ice for use in foods and drinks, however, was shipped to the drug store from faraway Kennebec, Maine.
The date of the beginning of the ice selling business is not known, but Miss Jennie Phipps Lawson has run across an old ice sales record book dated 1905.
The first circulating library in the county was founded at Faulkner and Lawson. Books were bought from the Tabard Inn in Philadelphia. Readers purchased the first book to join the library plan, and after that they paid a dime fee when they exchanged books with other members.
It was around 1905 that Faulkner and Lawson used the first typewriter ever seen in use here. It was a Blickens-Dorfer model, and above the keyboard was a cylinder with characters on it. When a key was struck, the cylinder revolved until the required character was reached, then struck the inserted paper.
It was in 1917 that the drug store made its next to the last move, to the corner of Main Street and Charles Street, which was then called "Charles Alley."
Mr. Faulkner died in 1921 and the estate sold his interest in the drug store to Buck Lawson. He retained the old company name afterwards, however.
The present owner, Miss Jennie Phipps Lawson, was growing up. After completing her public education here, she attended Duke University and Pan-American Business College where she graduated in 1936. She came home afterwards to work for her father.
In 1939 a major fire next door at the Mullins Five and Ten Cent Store closed down the drug store for six months while repairs were made and new stock and fixtures were installed.
The fire on May 31, 1939 did not actually damage the drug store but tons of water poured inside and played havoc with stock and fixtures. The drug store was not to reopen for business until November 16, that year.
In 1943 the community was saddened with the passing of Mr. Lawson. At his death, Miss Jennie Phipps who had learned the trade under her father, took charge and she has become one of the city's most successful merchants. This was recognized a few years ago when she was chosen the first female president of the South Boston Retail Merchants Association.

Public hearings on rezoning and speed limits promise to occupy a substantial portion of Town Council's time Monday night when the governing body holds its regular January meeting.
Frank Dance is requesting that some 46 acres at Centerville be rezoned from R-1 one-family residential to C-2 general commercial, and a public hearing will be held on this.
One tract of 34.95 acres lies east of Route 501 and north of Route 129, and the second tract of 10.96 acres lies on the north side of Route 129.
The South Boston Planning Commission is recommending that this rezoning be approved.
Another rezoning request is being brought by Barbara A. Petty, to rezone property on the east side of North Main Street, north of Hamilton Boulevard, from R-1 residential to C-1 neighborhood commercial, and a public hearing also will be held on this.
The Planning Commission has recommended that this request not be approved, saying the change could result in increased traffic, noise and pollution, and that this is essentially a residential area.
The property owner counters with the assertion that immediate adjacent property there is already zoned commercial.
The other public hearing will be on the speed limit for North Main Street north of Hamilton Boulevard. The present speed limit from Hamilton to Love Shop is 25 miles per hour.
Residents and motorists will come armed with two opposing petitions
One with 152 signatures including 86 town residents requests "the speed limit on North Main Street, from the town limit at the high school, to the stoplight at VEPCO, (be) changed to 35 miles per hour."
The other, bearing 56 signatures, is from the residents of North Main Street and requests the speed limit remain at 25 miles per hour.
In addition to the public hearing, Police Chief Jim Hall will present a traffic study on the affected portion of street.
There is no recommendation from the Planning Commission on this.
In other business:
Council is expected to amend the 1998-99 General Fund budget to reflect revenues and expenditures associated with the Universal Hiring Program grant award to fund five police officers.
Council will appoint Ryland Harris of 2929 Halifax Road to the Planning Commission to succeed Sam Seeley, who is ineligible for reappointment because he has served two full four-year terms. Harris is a resident of the newly incorporated area.Council will appoint Mamie D. Price to the South Boston Transportation Safety Commission to succeed Keith McDowell, who has moved out of town.
The Current Issues Committee has recommended both appointments, and the Safety Commission also has recommended McDowell's appointment.
Also, Council is expected to appoint Capt. Steve Phillips as South Boston's "Fire Official" (fire marshal) to be responsible for enforcement of the State Fire Code.
The governing body also is expected to adopt a resolution in support of the Community Arts Center Foundation's application for a $925,000 ISTEA grant.
Council will adopt a memorial resolution honoring the late Fred Powell, prominent businessman and longtime member of Town Council, and approve a resolution of appreciation for Sam Seeley for his service to the town on the Planning Commission.

The Halifax County School Board will elect a chairman and vice chairman when it undergoes reorganization Monday night during its January meeting.
Monday night's meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the second floor public meeting room at the Mary M. Bethune Office Complex in Halifax and is open to the general public.
In the reorganization, the school board will elect a chairman and vice chairman as well as appoint a clerk and deputy clerk.
Alan Gravitt is the current county school board chairman and D.H. McDowell, Jr. is the vice chairman.
Along with the reorganization, the school board will adopt its slate of meeting dates for 1999.
The school board has for a number of years undergone its reorganization at its July meeting. However, because school board members are now elected during the November elections, the school board has changed its policy to allow for reorganization in January at the start of the calendar year.
Also Monday night, county school superintendent Dennis Witt and the school system's Director of Instruction Ann C. Conner, will discuss the results of the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests that were administered to local students this past spring.

And, with school system officials already having started on piecing together the coming year's county school budget, Witt will give school board members an overview of where the budget preparations stand during Monday night's meeting.
During that discussion school board members may possibly set a date for a budget work session. A potential target date for the unveiling of the preliminary budget figures may also come out of that discussion.
School board members will also hear a report from the school system's energy manager Dr. J.O. Crews and will consider amendments proposed by school system officials to the school system's policy on head lice.

Debra Laska Martin, a 40-year old Halifax woman twice convicted of embezzlement, will begin serving six months in jail Monday as a result of actions taken against her yesterday in Circuit Court.
Martin was first convicted and sentenced on December 12, 1994 for embezzling an estimated $10,000 from N.C. Mobile Home Corporation which then owned and operated Hometown USA mobile home sales in Riverdale.
She plead guilty and was given a suspended 10 years in the penitentiary on conditions of her good behavior for 10 years, ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and pay the cost of court.
Three years later while working for the Halifax County Industrial Development Authority, Martin embezzled an estimated $7,800.
She pleaded guilty to a total of 16 felonies and two misdemeanors on October 22, 1998 and is scheduled to be sentenced February 17.
That second offense violated the conditions of the suspended prison sentence and yesterday's show cause action came as a result.
Judge William L. Wellons authorized work release for Martin and required that she comply with other conditions imposed which includes restitution of $7,831 to the IDA. Records show that all but $3,676 had been repaid as of April 30, 1998.

A 37-year-old Brookneal area resident was arrested yesterday in connection with a cutting that occurred December 16 at a store in Volens.
Deputy D.H. Barksdale arrested Jeffrey Neil Wright on a felonious assault charge stemming from a fight that occurred at Bernard McCraw's store in Volens.
According to Halifax County Sheriff's Department Capt. L.W. Fears, Wright is accused of cutting Derrick Bouie with a knife during the altercation.
A hearing for Wright will be held January 13 in Halifax County General District Court.
Also yesterday, 28-year-old Sharon Delores Shorter of Alton was arrested by Deputy D.W. Martin and charged with a misdemeanor charge of stealing a U.S. Government Social Security check valued at less than $200 which belonged to Tonya Doomes.
The alleged theft occurred January 1.
A hearing for Shorter has been set for February 5 in Halifax County General District Court.
In other crime:
South Boston Police are asking area residents to be on the lookout for a set of silver dollars, silver coins, and old paper money stolen Monday night in the break-in of the Southfax Insurance Agency, Inc. and Southern Gold & Diamonds office building in Centerville.
Lt. R.D. Loftis said that the silver dollars were in a collector's book when they were stolen from the firm.
Anyone having any information concerning the break-in or the location of the stolen items is asked to contact the South Boston Police Department or call the local Crime Stoppers hotline.
Entry to the building was gained by throwing a cinderblock through the front door of the firm.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A major advertising campaign will kick off soon to locate black farmers who may be eligible to join a multimillion-dollar settlement with the Agriculture Department.
Attorneys announced late Tuesday that a settlement had been reached in the 1997 racial discrimination lawsuit, ending more than two years of sometimes-contentious negotiations. Black farmers sued because they were denied access to government loans and subsidies.
A federal judge gave preliminary approval to the deal, which covers black farmers from 1981 to 1996. Final approval is expected at a hearing on March 2.
To let farmers know about the settlement, the advertising campaign will include commercials on Black Entertainment Television and CNN as well as newspaper ads in 18 states.
Ads are also being placed in TV Guide and Jet Magazine. An 800-telephone number has been set up to take calls from farmers wanting to join the settlement.
USDA also plans to work with community organizations in getting the word out to black farmers.
Meetings are being scheduled in Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Arkansas so that attorneys can meet with farmers and review their cases. A meeting in Albany, Ga., has been scheduled for Feb. 12 and 13.
''This expedited procedure is truly unique,'' said plaintiffs' attorney Phil Fraas, adding that it should take less than six to eight months to process cases. ''It is designed to give farmers speedy action on complaints that have languished at USDA for years - or in some cases decades.''
The settlement has several tracks under which farmers who have documented their discrimination can get relief. The majority of farmers are expected to take a simpler provision that would give them tax-free payments of $50,000 each and forgive their government debts.
Farmers with more documented evidence of their discrimination can opt to go before an independent arbitrator and seek larger damages. Farmers may also choose to opt out of the lawsuit and have their cases settled administratively within USDA.
The exact cost of the settlement is unclear because it is not yet known how many farmers will join the class and which settlement options they will choose. It could surpass $300 million to $400 million, however.
Plaintiffs' attorney Alexander Pires said he expects a class of about 5,000 black farmers, 10 percent of the 50,000 black farmers in the country in the early 1980s. He says attorneys have located almost 2,000 black farmers. To help locate more, a major advertising campaign will kick off on television, in magazines and in hundreds of newspapers within the next few weeks.
The $450,000 advertising campaign is being paid for by the Agriculture Department under the settlement agreement.
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EDITOR'S NOTE - The toll-free number for black farmers wishing to join the settlement is 1-800-646-2873.

William E. Roark Jr. of Zephyrhills FL, formerly of China Grove, died Tuesday, January 5, 1999 in Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL.
Mr. Roark was born in Scottsburg the son of Glenna Snead Roark and William E. Roark Sr. and was married to Alice Bostian Roark. He was a graduate of Virginia Tech, retired Administrator of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Dade City, FL; former Administrator of Davie Hospital in Mocksville, NC and other hospitals in NC, GA and FL. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Zephyrhills; former member of First United Methodist Church in China Grove, and served in the US Army during the Korean War.
Survivors include his wife; two sisters, Lou Roark Edwards of Fairfax Station and Sarah Roark Conner of Scottsburg; and several nieces and nephews.

Graveside services with Masonic Rites for Mr. Roark will be held today, January 8 at 11 a.m. at Greenlawn Cemetery in China Grove with Rev. Andy Langford officiating.
Those wishing to give memorials are asked to consider Shelter for the Homeless, c/o Rowan Helping Ministries, 226 North Long Street, Salisbury, NC 28144.

Isaac Dunn Jr. of Newport News, formerly of Alton, died Thursday, December 31, 1998 at his home at the age of 46.
Mr. Dunn was born in Halifax County on December 2, 1951.
Survivors include two daughters, Veronica Coleman of Alton and Tamika Reed of Newport News; one son, Isaac Reed of Roxboro, NC; four grandchildren; five sisters, Viola Dunn and Annie Dunn, both of Alton, Peggie Crews of Virgilina, and Mary Morman of Nathalie; three brothers, John Tucker of Alexandria, Sterling Tucker of Alton and Ralph Dunn of Hampton.

Funeral services for Mr. Dunn were held January 6 at 1 p.m. at Dan River Bethel Baptist Church in Alton with Rev. James Thomas officiating. Burial was in the Dunn Family Cemetery.

Evelyn Petty Edmonds of South Boston died Thursday, December 31, 1998 at Danville Regional Hospital at the age of 33.
Mrs. Edmonds was born in Halifax County on January 22, 1965.
Survivors include her husband, Gerald Edmonds; three children, Gerald Edmonds Jr., Christopher Edmonds and Corey Edmonds, all of South Boston; her father, Willie Petty Sr. of South Boston; one sister, Robin Petty of Raleigh, NC; and one brother, Willie Petty Jr.
Funeral services for Mrs. Edmonds were held Thursday, January 7 at 2 p.m. at County Line Baptist Church in Vernon Hill with Rev. Otis Dillard officiating. Burial was at Millstone Baptist Church Cemetery.

Mary Doss Dawson, 80, of 1129 Betterton Trail, Nathalie died Wednesday, January 6, 1999 at Halifax Regional Hospital. She was the wife of the late Tommie Dawson.
Mrs. Dawson was born in Pittsylvania County on November 20, 1918 the daughter of Tom Doss and Florine Layne Doss. She was a member of Straightstone Baptist Church.
Survivors include four sons and daughters-in-law, James and Jean Dawson of Gladys, Walter and Betty Jo Dawson of Republican Grove, Marvin and Bonnie Dawson of Nathalie and Michael and Virginia of Nathalie; nine daughters and five sons-in-law, Louise Miller of Lynchburg, Linda and Elbert Eanes of Nathalie, Barbara and Ron McCulloch of Roanoke, Irma and David Seamster of Nathalie, Joyce and Harrell Burton of Halifax, Connie and David Betterton of Nathalie, Rhonda Neighbors of Walker, NC, Wanda Sue Hunter of Brookneal, Mary Ann Dawson of Halifax; three brothers, Willard Doss of Hurt, Joe Doss of Altavista, and Frank Doss of Crescent City, FL; two sisters, Mamie Hudson of Hurt, Betty Lou Trent of Red House; 32 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren.
A funeral service for Mrs. Dawson will be conducted at 2 p.m. Saturday, January 9 at Henderson Funeral Home Chapel by Rev. Paul Mandell with burial to follow at Ellis Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 7-8:30 tonight, January 8 at Henderson Funeral Home, and will be at the residence of Marvin and Bonnie Dawson other times.

Lois Bailey Glenn of Safety Harbor, FL died Monday, January 4, 1999 at the age of 77.
Miss Glenn was born February 7, 1920 in Rice. She was a graduate of Longwood College, former teacher at the Halifax Academy and a member of the Beth Carr Baptist Church. She was married to the late Jesse M. Glenn.
Her survivors include her sons: Barry M. Glenn of Ozona, FL and James B. Glenn of Newport Richey, FL; sister: Christine Collins of Farmville; brothers: Lawrence Bailey of Hampton and Raymond Bailey of Farmville and four grandchildren.
A graveside service will be held Sunday, January 10 at 3:30 p.m. at Pisgah Baptist Church, Rice.
Memorial contributions may be made to the discretionary fund at Beth Carr Baptist Church or Pisgah Baptist Church.