men purcnasing tne store witn Wilson Burke, then selling

men purcnasing tne store witn Wilson Burke, then selling the store to out-of-towners and buying it back. Now, as his Corner Store finale, Randolph Clater has sold the store to Andy and Dana Thompson, and intends to seek other employment— employment that will permit him to work fewer than seven days a week and twelye plus hours per day.

Employment that will enable him to “get back a life and spend time with my family.”

All of his family has put forth the effort that has made the Corner Store a part of the daily routine in Sperryville. Daughter Pam Jenkins started working part-time at the store in 1985 and full-time in 1988; son-in-law Roger Jenkins spent twenty years in the Comer Store— from 1976 to 1996; wife Dorothy has toiled alongside her husband and daughter since 1996; and nephew Ian Thompson has “been here for nine

j - years... . --

The Claters will move on, and will leave to the Thompsons a legacy of good service and good cheer, and all of Rappahannock will miss their proprietorship of the Comer Store.

New owners Andy and Dana Thompson come from Dallas, but are not entirely unfamiliar with Rappahannock. Andy’s parents, Ken and Mary Thompson, live in the Sperryville area and Andy and Dana have visited on occasion and, like all of us, “just love the County.” It was Ken Thompson, in fact, who “brokered” the deal. Ken Thompson overheard Clater talking about his wish to have more time to spend with his family, told Andy about the possibility, “and a few weeks later it was a done deal.”

For the reasons Randolph Clater and family are moving out, Andy and Dana Thompson are moving in. Andy was looking too for a way to spend more time with Dana and their son (Andy was a long-distance mover and frequently away from home), and the Comer Store will give them that opportunity. Andy said that he is “really happy to be out of the truck and in one place for good.” And Dana seconded that. Though they’ve been here but a few weeks, they are both