To the Editor:
In August 2016 a friend of mine Joy Peeler of Longwood, Fla. was visiting my husband and I in Hendersonville, N.C. Joy elected to accompany me to Rochelle, Va. to attend my Aunt Elizabeth Fisher’s 95th birthday on her farm. My aunt’s former husband and my father had been second generation conductors and engineers for the Southern Railroad. Orange and Culpepper, Va. were frequent stops from their orientation in Alexandria.
Over the years my childhood memories would often drift to a very different time in the quaint town of Orange and surrounding areas. It was a time reminiscent of by gone days when small towns were built around trains stations that provided the platform for travel and commerce. It was a time when life in our country, as a whole, moved at a much slower pace. It was a time when neighbors greeted neighbors in town and there seemed to exist an unspoken feeling of community and welcome. There was a common bond among those that lived in close proximity to the heartbeat of these small rural towns, where the sound of a train whistle brought a sense of anticipation.
Today there remains very few places whereby one can still feel a sense of community and welcome as is defined as “Southern Hospitality.” However in Orange, Va. there is one venue whereby one can still feel that sense of welcome and an attitude of “come on in and sit a spell.” That hidden gem is The Donut Cafe, a place where local farmers like Bob Brennan of Orange, Va. come faithfully every morning for breakfast. It is a place whereby staff welcomes customers with steaming hot coffee and a warm smile. One can feel the sense of community as if everyone were sitting at the same table waiting for a delicious breakfast served right from grandma’s kitchen. The aroma of bacon and freshly brewed coffee beckons new comers to join in and partake in a sampling of true Americana, when the world felt safer and kinder. It is a time capsule of life in the early 1900’s which offers an experience that one cannot see in a museum or read about in a book.
The next time your travels take you near Orange, Va. make sure to stop at The Donut Cafe. If you listen closely while Gertie is pouring your first cup of hot coffee, you may just hear the faint sound of the old Southern double header steam engine as it approaches the train station, if only imagined. None the less, you will be embraced by a wonderful friendly staff and local folks that will welcome you as if you were in a different era.
Cheria Duncan
Hendersonville, N.C.