I like a good hamburger, and I know how to spot one before it ever makes its way into my gullet. However, I usually don”t make it a habit to have them for breakfast. Let me tell you about a recent exception.
Back in the fall I ventured down to the Hitchin” Lot Farmers” Market one fine Saturday morning to see what was going on. It was one of the first days with a nip in the air, and for some reason I was ravenous and couldn”t decide what I wanted to shove down my pie hole.
Coffee first, I thought.
I made me routine walk down the row of vendors, eyeing the produce, homemade candles, pens, soaps, breads, cakes, cookies and fried pig skins. As usual I had trouble making up my mind. It all looked good.
Out of the blue the unmistaken aroma of beef caught my attention.
OK. Who”s grillin” burgers?
I saw the blue-gray smoke at the north end of the pavilion. That”s where I headed.
Tommy Orr, who owns an old-fashioned one-stop general store in Shuqualak — pronounced “sugar-lock,” for those of you who might be new to the area — had a medium-sized grill set up on the back flap of his pick-up truck. I couldn”t remember ever seeing anything like it.
I watched him gently place an additional half-dozen oversized burgers on the grill, tending to the ones which were already beckoning. Three of us vultures anxiously waited on the word, “Done.”
“How much for one of those works of art?” I asked.
“Five dollars,” he said.
I made claim to the one I wanted, and he told me, “Five minutes. What you want on it?”
I took my wrapped burger over to my car, away from the general public, so I could get messy. It looked like that is what could happen. It did.
More barbecue … what”s the big deal?
Barbecue establishments in the South are not unusual. Like churches, which often spring up in metal buildings and vacated businesses, barbecue places are found on every block. Barbecue shacks are part of the landscape. However, Orr”s Truck Stop/Country Grocery & Grill is unique. The name implies a certain distinction, don”t you think?
Monday, I took a drive to Shuqualak to visit Orr and his wife, Minnie, and see for myself how a retired math teacher had transitioned into grillmeister/store owner.
Orr was and still is a working machine. While in college, he worked in Holly Springs in an exclusive men”s clothier, Duvall”s.
“This store was for men who did not want to see themselves on the sidewalk,” he explained. “Every suit that was sold at Duvall”s was tailored to fit that particular man, down to the type of cloth. This was back in the ”70s, and many of the suits cost from $500-$700.”
Orr also worked at the (University of Southern Mississippi) president”s house, bartended, and, as mentioned, as assistant manager at Duvall”s.
“Then I taught math for 36 years,” he said. “And somewhere along the line, I started grilling and barbecuing at lakeside family events, such as reunions. Family members and friends wanted more and more, and I began selling it.”
Hobbyist turns entrepreneur
Orr”s story is one that shows how a hobby can turn into a business. And you may not even realize that it”s happening.
“Minnie and I started going to festivals and other events, selling our barbecue by the slab, the pound, the sandwich. I can recall my first grill on the back of my truck, me standing there, selling to folks who just couldn”t seem to get enough.”
He was using a drum-style grill when he set up a makeshift station at John”s Place at the Crossroads, smack-dab in the middle of the Golden Triangle.
“We”ve been here in this store for over three years,” said Minnie.
“It”s considered a general one-stop store,” Orr said. “We”re the only store left in Shuqulak which is considered a grocery store.”
I saw cleaning products, caps and hats, candy bars, canned vegetables, and pots of homemade soup, sweet potatoes, steamed cabbage and various meats.
Although the lunch I enjoyed was not the barbecue I expected, it was tasty and plentiful, and what is generally called soul food.
Orr”s general store, located behind the only bank and on Line Street, is about a mile off of Highway 45 North, 10 miles south of Macon. He caters and sells his barbecue sauce by the gallon.
“I make my sauce hot, mild or spicy,” he said. “Some like it thick, some like it thin. I will customize.”
Minnie added that they have sold their barbecue at the Sturgis Bike Rally, the Vardaman Sweet Potato Festival, Red Hills Festival in Louisville and the Cotton Gin Festival in Noxubee County.
“We haven”t entered in any competitions … yet,” said Minnie, “but I know we need to do that.”
What”s on the grillin” menu?
There is pork, chicken, beef — briskets and steaks — and sausages.
“We sell slabs of ribs from $15-20, depending on the size,” said Orr. “Pulled pork goes for $7.50/$8.50 per pound. Boston butts go for $25-$35. We sell by the sandwich and bulk. Whatever you want.”
Orr is presently establishing a second site in Philadelphia. “I expect to be open for business there sometime in the next few months,” he said.
To get to the Orrs” store, drive through Macon heading south on Highway 45 South. About 10 miles down the highway, you will see the green mileage marker, pointing to the right, highways 21 and 39 to Shuqualak and Philadelphia.
Crossing the railroad tracks, you will see the bank. The store is located on Line Street, directly behind the bank. He can be reached at 662-904-1734.
John Dorroh is a semi-retired high school science teacher, who writes a business column for The Dispatch.
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