The Wilson Post
LEBANON WEATHER

General store a major delight




The picturesque R.M. Brooks Gen. Mdse. in Rugby, Tenn., famous for its old-fashion hoop cheese and fried-baloney sandwiches, has gained a reputation as a place ‘where strangers become like family.’ The store has been in business for almost 100 years and today is operated by the great-granddaughter of its founders, R.M. and Nettie Brooks. KEN BECKPicasa

The picturesque R.M. Brooks Gen. Mdse. in Rugby, Tenn., famous for its old-fashion hoop cheese and fried-baloney sandwiches, has gained a reputation as a place ‘where strangers become like family.’ The store has been in business for almost 100 years and today is operated by the great-granddaughter of its founders, R.M. and Nettie Brooks. KEN BECKPicasa

Nearly a century old, R.M. Brooks General Store in Rugby is not only a local landmark, it may well be the most photogenic country store in Tennessee as its exterior and interior are slathered with hundreds of colorful, eye-catching thingamabobs and whatchamacallits. 

Listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1992, the wooden structure in the Morgan County town about two hours east of Lebanon holds so many artifacts that it would be impossible to see everything in one visit. Many of the items are original to the store which was founded in the early 1920s by Brooks and his wife, Nettie.

The general store not only makes a great road trip for those nostalgic for the good old days, but it presents a mighty fine place to fill your tummy with soft drinks, vintage candy bars, homemade fried pies and a selection of 14 sandwiches. That includes proprietor Tiffany Terry’s renowned fried-baloney sandwich, which nabbed best baloney sandwich in the state honors in a 2015 online challenge called the No-Baloney Best Baloney Sandwich Shootout.

Standing near the front door of R.M. Brooks Store, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, are three generations of the family that have helped run the business. From left is R.M. and Nettie Brooks’ great-granddaughter Tiffany Terry; Tiffany’s mom, Linda Sue Brooks Jones; and Tiffany’s daughter, Kellie Lowe. KEN BECKPicasa

Standing near the front door of R.M. Brooks Store, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, are three generations of the family that have helped run the business. From left is R.M. and Nettie Brooks’ great-granddaughter Tiffany Terry; Tiffany’s mom, Linda Sue Brooks Jones; and Tiffany’s daughter, Kellie Lowe. KEN BECKPicasa

Boasting a wood floor and ceiling, the interior overflows with tons of items from yesteryear. A huge, pot-bellied stove commands attention in the center of the store, while nearby 1950s Pepsi and Coca-Cola coolers hold cold drinks in bottles. Advertising signs, barrels, jars, scrub boards, tools and hornet nests fill the shelves and hang from the ceiling. Not to be missed is Polly, a stuffed parrot, perched inside her cage.

Now in the able hands of Tiffany, the store has been operated by four generations of Brooks. Following her great-grandparents were R.O. and Verda Brooks and then her dad and mom, Bill and Linda Sue Brooks Jones. Fifth- and sixth-generation family members also have pitched in as Tiffany’s daughter, Kellie Lowe, lends a helping hand from time to time. Kellie’s sons, Cooper, 4, and Clayton, 1, engage with tourists for public relations sake.  

The store closed for the first and only time in January 2010 when Tiffany’s father died. She and her husband, Gary, reopened it in April 2014.

History teacher David Apel, left, of Louisville, Ky., enjoys good food, good conversation and the ambience of Brooks Gen. Mdse., a classic country store, while visiting with locals Steve and Gale Dalton. KEN BECKPicasa

History teacher David Apel, left, of Louisville, Ky., enjoys good food, good conversation and the ambience of Brooks Gen. Mdse., a classic country store, while visiting with locals Steve and Gale Dalton. KEN BECKPicasa

“After my dad passed away, my husband and I happened to be in a position to preserve it, but we didn’t know what to do,” said Tiffany. “I felt like God put it in my hand. I had a vision that it had to be perfect. I tried to keep it as original as possible.”

Among other difficult decisions, she tore down the house her mother grew up in which had been attached to the store and replaced it with a porch.

“When I bought the store there was so much in here from my mother’s family, you could hardly maneuver in here. I couldn’t decide what to keep and what to get rid of. My sister advised me, ‘You’ve got to make a choice: keep it or pay the light bill.’ ”

So, if she had duplicates of vintage items, she sold some but kept practically everything original to the store.

What remains is more than a place to eat, drink and chew the fat. It serves as a country store museum of sorts. Over the years it has hosted guests from across the U.S. and such countries as New Zealand, France, Italy, Taiwan, Brazil, Canada and England.

This is a close-up of Brooks Store’s famous fried-baloney sandwich. The store claimed honors as best baloney sandwich in Tennessee after winning the No-Baloney Best Baloney Sandwich Shootout, a 2015 online challenge. Atop the baloney are slices of the store’s hoop cheese while tucked beneath are tomatoes and lettuce. KEN BECKPicasa

This is a close-up of Brooks Store’s famous fried-baloney sandwich. The store claimed honors as best baloney sandwich in Tennessee after winning the No-Baloney Best Baloney Sandwich Shootout, a 2015 online challenge. Atop the baloney are slices of the store’s hoop cheese while tucked beneath are tomatoes and lettuce. KEN BECKPicasa

Putting together the menu

One of the early decisions Tiffany made was to rid the store of its modern stand-up beverage coolers and go back with antique coolers.

“I had the original blue Pepsi cooler, but it had quit working. I found it would cost $164 to fix it (she did). Later a lady I didn’t know came to the store and said, ‘I’ve got something you need. I have a Coke cooler. I think it’ll fit here.’ I asked her, ‘How much you want?’ She said, ‘$700.’ ‘OK,’” said Tiffany, who put the two coolers side by side and filled them with soft drinks in bottles.

“I was feeling my way along. I did cold sandwiches like my grandmother would have done. I made hamburgers. I had four George Foreman grills to cook them on. I listened to people tell me what they wanted. A local guy said, ‘You should make breakfast for us.’ I told him, ‘I don’t get up early and I don’t even fix breakfast for my husband.’

Behind the counter is the smiley-faced, mother-and-daughter duo of Linda Sue Brooks Jones and Tiffany Terry. When Brooks Store began offering fried pies, Linda did the honors but a little bit down the road she told Tiffany it was about time she took over as pie maker. KEN BECKPicasa

Behind the counter is the smiley-faced, mother-and-daughter duo of Linda Sue Brooks Jones and Tiffany Terry. When Brooks Store began offering fried pies, Linda did the honors but a little bit down the road she told Tiffany it was about time she took over as pie maker. KEN BECKPicasa

“Two local women overheard us and volunteered to help me. I thought, ‘Lord, am I really supposed to make breakfast?’’’

Now the store offers breakfast that stars omelets, sausage, bacon, biscuits and gravy from 8:30 a.m. until Tiffany runs out of vittles. Sandwiches are served daily. The roster includes ham, turkey, BLT, pulled pork, grilled chicken, burgers, black bean burgers and Reuben’s.

“Let me tell you about my Reuben’s. A neighbor woman said, ‘Maybe we should do a Rueben?’ I told her, ‘I’m not sure folks here will even know what it is.’ It became one of our best sellers,” said Tiffany, adding that the fried-bologna sandwich and hand-patted hamburgers also are favorites.

“I been fussed at because my prices are not high enough. I have a lot of farmers and locals so I try to keep it down for them,” she said. The mammoth fried baloney sandwich goes for $3.75 while her fried pies go for $2 apiece as they fly out the door.

The old-timey Brooks Store menu features 14 different sandwiches if you count a hot dog as a sandwich. Beverages include milk shakes and soft drinks in the bottle. Saturday morning breakfast stars biscuits, gravy, eggs, sausage, ham and pancakes. And talk about old-timey prices, a cup of coffee is a buck and a biscuit is four bits.  KEN BECKPicasa

The old-timey Brooks Store menu features 14 different sandwiches if you count a hot dog as a sandwich. Beverages include milk shakes and soft drinks in the bottle. Saturday morning breakfast stars biscuits, gravy, eggs, sausage, ham and pancakes. And talk about old-timey prices, a cup of coffee is a buck and a biscuit is four bits.  KEN BECKPicasa

Tiffany’s mom, Linda Sue, has been operating nearby Grey Gables Bed & Breakfast Inn for 30 years, the longest-running B&B in Rugby, where she serves breakfast and supper.

Linda Sue shared more history about the business, saying, “The store was started sometime in the early 1920s by my grandfather. It started out with just the front part but it got added and added on to. I grew up in the house connected to the store that was later taken off. The store had everything you would need: dry goods, shoes, clothes, seeds, sacks of flour.

“My mother operated the Rugby Post Office here for nearly 40 years. I started working in here when I was 7 or 8 years old. We all worked in the store. We had to deliver groceries. … Even until the 50s, people would still come in (horse- or mule-drawn) wagons.”

Polly the parrot is the Brooks Store mascot. The bird was given to Nettie Brooks by her brother and lived to be over 50 years old. Children who visited the store during the bird’s heyday were delighted when she would squawk ‘Polly wants a cracker.’ KEN BECKPicasa

Polly the parrot is the Brooks Store mascot. The bird was given to Nettie Brooks by her brother and lived to be over 50 years old. Children who visited the store during the bird’s heyday were delighted when she would squawk ‘Polly wants a cracker.’ KEN BECKPicasa

Linda Sue, who sees her role as a mentor to Tiffany, said, “The store had its own purpose to each generation. Things change. She’s created her own niche. I try to be of help but try to let her be her own person. The store here today is as it should be now.”

However, Tiffany’s mom and her Uncle Bobby strongly nudged her to add the popular fried pies to the menu. That came about after she began selling sorghum molasses made by Mennonites in Muddy Pond. One day her Uncle Bobby went to buy Tiffany a couple of cases of the molasses.

Related Tiffany, “He came back and has two fried-apple pies and threw them to me and said, ‘You have to try this and see what you think.’ I said, ‘I don’t like apple pies.’ My son, Wesley, eats them and says, ‘It’s good.’ I said, ‘OK, Bobby, get some.’ He came back and said, ‘I got 50 for you.’ We had a big car show that Saturday, and I sold them all in 45 minutes.”

For a while she continued to purchase the pies from the Muddy Pond Mennonites. Then one day, her mother told her she had the fried pie recipe from the Church of God.

A new hunk of hoop cheese is ready for hungry customers. It sits on the cheese slicer that has been in Brooks Store since it opened for business. KEN BECK

A new hunk of hoop cheese is ready for hungry customers. It sits on the cheese slicer that has been in Brooks Store since it opened for business. KEN BECK

“So, she started helping and made all my fried pies. Finally, one day she said, ‘Tiffany, I think it’s time you started making fried pies in the store.’ Uncle Bobby threw the pies at me and she kicked me out of the nest, so I had to make ’em,” said Tiffany, who makes about two batches of fried pies a day, resulting in about 30 to 40 fried pies that run out quickly.

Kellie, a fifth-generation Brooks’ descendant, assisted her mother with the store as a teenager “Now I try to help her more during big events, and I bring the boys down to help them know the family history. Cooper helps her make fried pies and has gotten pretty good at it.”

The long-lasting parrot

While no dogs or cats lounge about the store, it does have a mascot. Stuffed Polly the parrot remains frozen in time in her cage. The bird was a gift from Nettie Brooks’ brother in the late 1930s and lived with the family for more than 40 years. It would greet customers by saying “Hello” or “Polly wants a cracker.”

Tiffany Terry’s 4-year-old grandson Cooper Lowe, a sixth-generation of the Brooks family to help in their country store, prepares fried pies. SUBMITTED

Tiffany Terry’s 4-year-old grandson Cooper Lowe, a sixth-generation of the Brooks family to help in their country store, prepares fried pies. SUBMITTED

“It was such a fixture and was in great shape until my son and my nephew got it,” recalled Tiffany about the parrot. Her husband told her to throw it away, but she glued its wings back on and Polly continues to be a curiosity piece.

Alas, due to someone with sticky fingers, missing is the head of a 275-pound jewfish that hung on the store porch for 48 years. 

Tiffany also runs a campground and RV park and directly behind the store has created a primitive treehouse in a massive oak tree.

“I call it A Little Closer to Heaven. We built it from wood from the old house. I rent it for $55 a night. It’s like tent camping in a treehouse,” said the businesswoman, who became a celebrity around Morgan County this spring after she was interviewed by Fox News Channel host Neil Cavuto.

Her fondest early memories set in the store are of watching her grandmother, Verda, sitting in her rocking chair next to the counter.

At the end of a busy day recently, Tiffany took a load off and reclined in that same rocker and shared about her role as Brooks Store’s keeper of the flame.

“God’s hand is behind it. It’s all about trying to be a light for the community and people who come in here. And it makes a living for me, but storekeeping is never done.”

CLASSIC TENNESSEE COUNTRY STORE

R.M. Brooks Gen. Mdse. In Rugby (approximately a two-hour drive from Lebanon) has been operated by four generations of the Brooks family for nearly 100 years and offers visitors a look inside a country store that has preserved most of its original décor. Visitors also can enjoy sandwiches, snacks, soft drinks, fried pies, hoop cheese and crackers and fried-baloney sandwiches. Hours (Eastern time): 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. The site also features a campground and RV park. Phone: (423) 628-2533. Website: rmbrooksstore.com.

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