As I drove around the corner

in Fayetteville from Highway 85 south and onto Highway 54 west, I couldn't

help but notice the lovely Bradford pear trees all in bloom.

I also remember the gas station

that sat on that spot for years and was operated by the late Jim Garner.

In the early 1970s he moved up the street to the spot where Checkers restaurant

is now. The Farmers and Merchants Bank bought the old station and eventually

had it razed to create a parking lot for the bank.

The bank president's wife,

Dorothea Hosch Redwine, went to work on the corner as soon as the paving

was set and a brick wall built. I will always remember her down on hands

and knees planting the trees and the spring flowers.

The bank had a branch just

up Highway 85 next to the Waffle House, and she once again set to the

planting of flowers. When another branch was built at Highway 138 and

Highway 279, you guessed it, Dorothea was down on her hands and knees,

making the exterior of the bank look as spiffy as the interior.

The Fayette County Historical

Society moved into its present location in the former Margaret Mitchell

Library in 1988. When the date of its formal open house neared, charter

member Dorothea showed up the day before with a trunk full of flowers.

Her demeanor was always update

and chipper. I only remember one time when she was "down," but

only her close friends saw it.

Sadly she died seven years

ago, but her spirit lives on and you can witness it every spring.