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Lifestyleslt;Tlic Sunfrui (Times 3iuirnal -• * ~ I'UI.ASKI-KADFOIU), Va., May I. 1977—19 SAllisonia ’s Bessie Webb Equals IngenuityBy VICKI FUTREIX Staff WriterIf Bessie Webb could drive and had a ca r she would come to Pulaski and work with the Senior Citizens.But the 82-year-old Allisonia resident does not have a car, never learned to drive and spends most of her time in her log cabin home on the shores of the Big Reed Island Creek.II does not seem to bother her at all. After traveling down the winding road to the cabin she has called home for 62 years, Bessie Webb turns out to greet you like a breath of fresh air. She is a spry woman, hospitable, and moves with ease up the steps of her home.Inside she seats herself in a straightback chair in front of the desk where she writes over 200 letters a year and begins to unravel the memories of her life.A Carroll County native she Came to Allisonia when she married K.M. Webb 62 years ago this summer. Throughout their life in what she calls a close-knit community, the Webbs farmed, operated a poultry farm and rebuilt the entire cabin save for the logs which she said arc over 175 years old.While her husband took up the hobby of wood carving, Mrs. Webb canned vegetables and stored the wares in the basement. She retrieves a photo album to show us the shelves lined with goods.Nothing much was going on when we came here,” she recalled, and of course there was no electricity. But along about 1936 Appalachian Power Company officials told Mrs. Webb if she would gel up a list of people who would hook on to an electric line, they would put the line in.That was all the encouragement she needed. Her husband agreed to keep the chickens and their three children and she set off throughout the Allisonia community signing up people for electricity.APCO proved true to its word and on December I, 1937, Mrs. Webb remembers, electricity came to Allisonia.This date and others are carefully lodged in a tablet handily stored in the desk-~a necessity for people like herself, she says, who can no longer so easily remember things.About 17 years ago, she tells us, another power company, Duke Power Company of North Carolina, came to Allisonia. Mrs. Webb said they Went throughout the community and bought land for the purpose of putting a power plant on the hill above the town.The Webbs and their friends, the Coxes, down the road refused to sell any land, she said, and for 17 years now there has been no word from Duke.Two years ago her husband died after some six years of illness, and in between visits of her children and grandchildren and a terrible case of telephonistis,'* Mrs. Webb has embarked on a number of new projects—like raising fishworms.Two years ago she spied an add ina magazine for worms from a company in Texas and ordered a 1,000 of them. Situating them in the basement in holely washtubs she sold out real quick the first year but after a few troubles with the cluster fly, success came a little slower.But she gained experience and with about two hours of care a week her worm business is prospering, Mrs. Webb explained. Worms will be ready for area fishermen in about three months but putting a worm on a fishing hook is something she said she would never do.“I wouldn't dare do it but I’ll sell them and let someone else do that, she said chuckling, ■ftnothcr-magazine-ad-tempted-her-into-buying-ginsengends. I won’t ever gel caught up but that’s okay, it will be here for someone else to do, she said.Although she enjoys books, magazines and good” news papers, television occupies a little of her time due to what she called a lack of good programs. No time is spent on the funny papers either, as 'There is something worth more in life than reading the funny papers.Time is running short and we grab a quick peek at the worm farm and Iheapplelrees in the yard. Deserted chicken houses stand on the hill and an old mill stands vacant on a corner of the farm.She shows us the pleasanl spot under the big tree where she and her friends spend long summer hours. The creek gurgles behind us as we tour the tiny guest cottage her husband and a friend built for one of her sons. . .We turn to go. Bessie WebO gives us a friendly farewell,invites us back anytime, and bustles back into her house.seeds and her son has them planted in his greenhouses in West Virginia, she said. There is no word yet on their success.Tax season is also busy time for her, as she fills out tax forms for some 40 Allisonia area residents. About 30 years ago, Mrs. Webb said, she told her husband she bet she could fill the forms out it looked easy, and has been doing it ever since. Being “fair and honest with people, has kept the customers coming, she suggested.It is a full life she begins each morning at 6 a.m. although she admits she is “The World’s Greatest Sleeper and takes one, sometimes two, naps a day.But there is exercise, too, as the diet book says I must \~—pxercise-io-keep jhisJaLoff So 1 got me a nair of walking shoes and I walk through the fields,’’ Mrs. Webb said, her eyes bright behind neat glasses.What does she think sets her apart from other older Americans? ‘ ‘A zest for living, she said, ‘‘to be something in this world and move about. I just have to do something.” “Therearesomanylhingstokeepm'ebusy,”shesaid, like cleaning out old chicken houses and stacking up odds andPhoto by O.rv* OallwREMODELED LOG CABINBessie's Home For 62 YearsWATERING THE FISHWORMSBessie Raises Them In Her Basementphoto by Gene DaltonBack By Popular DemandAntique Answers RevisitedBy PAUL SIMPKINS. Thanks for the response to our new style of column. More questions keep coming. Will try to find the best answers.If you have a question on antiques, mail a card or letter to me, care of Lovely Mount Antiques, 1011 Norwood St., Radford, Va. Photos or drawings will help. If you want them returned, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Call in questions can be made to 639-9991.Q. “I have a funny-looking thing with six arms that turns. A neighbor told me it was a yarn winder. Is there such a thing, and if so,.(iow much is it worth?”A. Your neighbor is probably correct. They were companion nieces ton sninmne wheel, hut are much more scarce todav.refimshing old trunks? I have two and am scared to start on them without some instructions.A. For sometime there was such a booklet advertised in the antique magazines by a company that sells hardware for trunks, but I was unable to locate the ad. Perhaps, some reader has an old copy of “The Antique Trader” that might have that info. Patience is the key to refinishing old trunks. Take off everything that will come off, and work outward. Clean all tin and refinish all exposed wood. Give the entire piece a good coat of clear finish when through. Line the inside with cloth or contact paper.Q. “Recently I purchased from an old store in Draper five tortfe and five small holders of some tvoe. Thev look like sliver
Newspaper Details
Radford Times Journal
Radford, Virginia, US
Sun, May 01, 1977
Page 28
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 14 Apr 2019
Other Publications Near Radford, Virginia
Radford Times Journal
Radford Journal Weekly
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