 Women sit and orer lunch at Boone Drug Wednesday afternoon. Photo by Jordan Paris
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by MARY ELIZABETH ROBERTSON
Lifestyles Reporter
A tiny bell jingles whenever the door opens.
The scent of hot sandwiches and hot dogs fill the air and the sound of popping grease resonates from the grill.
Boone has seen many changes during the past 90 years, but at least one thing has remained the same: King Street’s Boone Drug.
Boone Drug originated in 1919 and will celebrate its 90th birthday this month.
 People enter Boone Drug Wednesday afternoon for lunch. Boone Drug celebrates its 90 year anniversary this year.
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Because workers are unaware when the original date of its opening was, they will celebrate throughout the month of October.
Store Manager Scotty H. Prevost said visitors come in to show their children what Boone Drug is all about.
“The parents say ‘Look, this is what a drug store looked like before CVS,’” Prevost said.
One couple,
married with children, had their first date at Boone Drug when they
were freshmen at Appalachian State University and now return every year
to eat as a family.
Throughout the years, Prevost believes Boone Drug’s homey and relaxed atmosphere have kept people coming back.
“We want
everyone to feel like they are taking a step back in time,” she said.
“That is why we wear…soda fountain hats and aprons.”
During its 90 years of business, cashier Lois G. Norris, 82, has been employed at Boone Drug for 45 years.
“When I first started, the original founder was here,” she said.
Norris witnessed the installation of brass nameplates along the countertop, where customers are served food and drinks.
The
nameplates recognize regular customers who are currently unable to
visit and deceased customers who have left an imprint on the staff.
Norris also helped mail pipe tobacco to customers in the 70s, when the demand was high.
“One of the
pharmacists had started a little pipe shop in [19]76,” she said. “After
all the emphasis on stopping smoking, it dwindled. Now we only keep a
few blends of tobacco and pipes.”
Joe C. Miller, owner of Cheap Joe’s Art Stuff, worked as a pharmacist at Boone Drug from 1962 to 1995.
“I loved the
people and the camaraderie, but I did go on to another exciting
career,” Miller said. “I traded my job as a pharmacist for another job
that I love.”
Boone Drug
has been featured in the New York Times and North Carolina’s “Our
State” magazine, a publication dedicated to unique topics within the
state.
“We want Boone Drug to be on the map as a must-see of North Carolina,” Prevost said.
The store
features a soda fountain and grill and its pharmacy moved from its
original downtown location to Boone Drug on Meadowview Drive last year.
Though the
pharmacy is no longer at Boone Drug on King Street, a prescription card
is still given to each customer at the check-out counter – a piece of
paper for “your prescription to a good day.”
“Why, it’s a visit to Boone Drug, old-fashioned soda fountain and grill,” Prevost said.
Photos by Jordan Paris | The Appalachian
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