Retiree is enjoying fruits of his labors
Frank Buck doesn't find the slow pace of retired life satisfying.
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He needs to stay busy and meet new people.
The North Augusta resident finds all the new people he can handle working behind the table of a produce stand in Columbia County. People of all ages, races and backgrounds visit the stand under a portable tent on the corner of the parking lot of Tracker Jack's, at Furys Ferry and North Belair roads. Six days a week, customers stop by for fresh peaches, watermelons and tomatoes.
Each one is greeted with a warm smile and friendly conversation.
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"I love to do it," Buck said of his eight-hour-a-day job. "I love to meet people and talk to people."
Buck retired from the composing room of The Augusta Chronicle in 1996, after 45 years with the newspaper. He has yet to slow down.
Wendell Stephenson of Evans, buys peaches and tomatoes from Frank Buck.
Photo by Annette M. Drowlette
Since retirement, Buck has played Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny at the Augusta Mall, a volunteer for the American Cancer Society and its Relay for Life, and a substitute teacher in Aiken County. He also spent more than 20 years as security and course supervisor of the Masters Tournament.
Last summer, Buck was asked to help William Bell, owner of Bell Farms in Ward, S.C.
"I was playing golf with the guys when he asked me to work for him at the strawberry stand in North Augusta while he was on vacation," Buck said. "Two days turned into two weeks. This year, he asked me if I would like to go to Columbia County. It is a whole new world, a new adventure, but I am enjoying it."
Buck's wife, Sue, who also is retired, doesn't mind that he's gone so much. She is active in arts and crafts, paints a lot and sometimes brings lunch to her husband. Both are active in First Baptist Church of Belvedere. He squeezes in time to golf, fish, travel and see his daughter and two grandchildren.
Frank Buck handles one of the peaches he says are "so fresh, the tree is still shaking."
Photo by Annette M. Drowlette
Many of Buck's customers bring back recipes or their baked wares to share with him, and he has even introduced a few non-Southerners to "peaches so fresh, the tree is still shaking," he said.
Bell Farms provides the watermelons and peaches and strawberries through May. Glen Forest, of Forest Produce in Johnston, S.C., provides tomatoes. Buck sells roughly 12 to 15 baskets of peaches and another 12-15 watermelons a day, he said. The stand opened May 20 and Buck will man it another month, he said.
The intense heat doesn't bother Buck. He is equipped with lots of water, a radio, bug repellent, a fan, sunscreen and a water bottle to polish tomatoes.
"All the comforts of home," he said with a laugh.