I have a love affair with country ham and THE guy who wraps it.
It is no secret that one of my favorite destinations of all times is Ronnie’s Country Store in Winston-Salem, N.C. When I moved to town in the late 70’s, the store was known as “W.G. White and Company” – founded in 1925. In 1994, Ronnie Horton bought the store from the White family; but the county health department came down hard … “Sorry, son, but you need to bring the store up to code”. And thanks for the outpouring affection of Winston-Salem residents and one local Senator Ham Horton (no relationship to Ronnie), Senator Horton introduced and passed a special bill in the North Carolina legislature to allow Ronnie’s to remain as it always was. The law became known as “Ham’s Law.”
Now with THE guy, there are rituals which go with the purchase. First, THE guy will always perfunctorily hold up the first slice for the customer’s approval (usually just a nod is needed) before he would cut the next. Next would come the weighing; and then the magic would start – the wrapping.
What makes it magical for me, are THE guy’s hands – hands that one would expect to be those of a venerable farmer who has spent his life outside. His bent fingers have never been very nimble but there is a calculated movement in each meticulous and intentional fold of the butcher paper that keeps the flavors safe inside until the customer gets home.
After 38 years of being a loyal customer and never hearing anyone address another by their first name, I finally introduced myself to Ronnie Horton, the proprietor. I asked him, who is THE guy that cuts your ham. His name is “Roy Anders and he has been working for me for more than 20 years; and every Sunday you can find him leading the choir at Freedom Baptist Church in Rural Hall.
I think now that I might have a church.
