Gravy, wild oats and books in Burke County

Burke County Notebook

By: Gwen Veazey | Morganton News Herald
Published: February 05, 2011

Mary Grace Haller scurried by our booth at her restaurant, the Glen Alpine Depot, waving a letter from N.C. House Representative Hugh Blackwell.
“I’m so proud of this,” she told me.
My husband, Doug, and I ate dinner-plate sized pancakes and drank perfect coffee, enjoying our morning at this bustling, cozy place with fine art on the walls and miniature engines and train cars displayed beside us. We learned Blackwell was congratulating Haller because Our State Magazine named her restaurant one of the best places to eat breakfast in North Carolina.
Haller’s warmth, openness and determination make her a natural for a successful business person despite the economic challenges of the last few years. Her homemade gravy and tenderloin beef have helped, too.
Not to mention her perseverance. Like the freight train chugging past the front windows of her restaurant, she moves steadfastly ahead. She said, “Sometimes I just have to keep walking no matter what, put blinders on, ear plugs in, and keep going.”
In response to accolades resulting from the January Our State article, she emphasizes she’s part of a team.
“I always tell people there is no job any more important than another, even mine. We can’t survive without all of us doing what we need to do, dishwashers, busboys and all.”
Her team includes Holly Woody, Samantha Best, Paulette Lail, Larry Verheeck, Chris Stovall, Travis Dillinger, Theo Avery, Linda Michaels and Haller’s son, Justin.
She’s a staunch ally of other small businesses in the community and says, “We little guys have to help each other.”
She talked up a local artist, Lance Turner, whose amazing work she displays on the Depot’s walls.
Glen Alpine Depot is a cool spot (or hotspot?) to be on a snowy morning.
We ran into retired teachers William “Bo” Cash and his wife, Novah, eating breakfast at the Depot. He taught science and biology at Salem Junior High, Table Rock Middle School and retired from Freedom High in 2001. Novah also taught at a number of Burke County Schools and retired from the Enola Learning Center at Broughton Hospital.
Bo is a fly-fishing expert finishing a memoir, “Water Under the Bridge,” incorporating both love of the outdoors and his childhood.
“I want to honor my grandfather who raised me,” he said.
Amid taking folks fishing and mapping backwoods bear hunter trails and mining roads, he’s found time to commit more than 100,000 words to paper. He wrote the largest portion of the book by lantern light while camping alone.
The lifelong Burke County resident added, “My daddy wasn’t in the picture, and Mama couldn’t act as a much-needed male role model. If it hadn’t been for my grandfather, I’d have been the worst outlaw in Burke County.”
Bo Cash had spoken about his book to another small business person in town, Shirley Sprinkle, owner of The Muses bookstore.
“You know, she’s closing at the end of March,” he told us.
“Oh, no!”
I called The Muses later. It’s not written in stone yet that this 39-year-old Morganton institution is closing, but signs point in that direction.
Sprinkle said, “It’s because customers order online more and are buying electronic readers.”
Knowing Shirley Sprinkle’s dedication to books and reading and hearing her talk about her loyal employees, I know she would agree with Mary Haller that perseverance and team work are requirements for success. Yet even with those in your favor, sometimes the forces beyond one’s control can derail you. The powerful train of technological change runs over whatever is on the tracks.
Sprinkle added, “If we do close, I feel blessed we’ve made it as long as we have and very blessed by all our community support.”
I would like to end on a profound note of wisdom concerning something else I learned about the good and hardworking people of Burke County, but . . . no. I learned my husband was not interested after breakfast in adjourning a few blocks away to Lake James Cellars winery for a wine tasting. And yes, if you go there at 10 a.m., you can sample the vino.