Candy's Ice Cream Parlor

Candy's Ice Cream Parlor is open on Main Street in Blackstone next to The Blackstone Herb Cottage. It is a wonderful asset to our community. Thank you, Candy Early! Okay, which one of you Blackstone Bloggers is going to be the first one to say that ice cream is only for old people who have money, lol.

Oh well you know what I think The Icecream parlor is great. As for a wonderful asset. Again I ask how many will it employ? You tell me a Home depot or a Lowes is coming I will smile , Because I know how much it will employ. Everybody enjoys icecream and we can buy it at Mcdonalds, Hardee's, Pitstop, and well just about anywhere. I hope the shop does well. But the problems that we are trying to fix is not with a small parlor, That mainly seniors will go to. We went be the little coffee shop and you know it was real quiet only a guy playing a guitar in there no customers. Sad these small shops won't make it if the poor people don't have money to spend there. So you see the problems go beyond a small shop. I don't wish bad on the small business man I say for them to stay in business we have to have employment in the community. So you tell me when that will happen Blackstone girl.

Big box stores like Walmart, Lowe's, and Home Depot are what have destroyed businesses in small town America. Years ago down town Blackstone was thriving with hardware stores, grocery stores, clothing stores, appliance stores, two drug stores, two "dime" stores. Now all we have is Walmart and Walmart sucks. No locally owned grocery stores - only Food Lion. And these big box stores pay low wages. I personally don't want any more big box stores in Blackstone. I want down town Blackstone to grow and attract visitors and shoppers to our community. Lowe's or Home Depot would run Bevell's out of business and Bobby Daniel does more for this community than just about any other citizen I know of. I don't know the answer. We used to have factories that employed people: Levi, Craddock Terry, Velvet Textile. We need industry not big box stores but in this economic climate that's not going to happen - those jobs are now outsourced to foreign countries. I know that jobs here are limited. I have commuted to the city for close to 10 years; my husband commuted for over 35 years; and my son commutes.

I am sorry that I had to go on a rant, but I had to say what has been on my mind for awhile. Yes icecream is good and good for Candy. I too was laid off from my job and have to do a job search, however. We can at least try to improve our corner of the world.

Blackstone girl; I hear what you are saying! Let our locals run the town!
Let me remind you of this: When the 5&10 and the other stores went out of business it was because they charged too much and folks were taking their money elsewheres. They were not making enough to stay in business. As far as wages go. They payed the minimum wage. Levi's payed the same! With no pay increase after years of work! Blackstone restraunt and the others payed one dollar an hour and let you keep your tips! This was great pay wasn't it? A person might make enough to pay the light bill but a lot of home owners didn't collect their rent!!!
So; now you say let our local owned stores stay open to raise their prices so high the average person can't afford to buy anything else. Or buy from anyone else? As the citizens did in the past; they'll do again. Go to the big city's to pay less! You will see your locally owned stores going out of business again; and you can blame it on the big stores and company's but the truth of the matter is: They raise their prices to fill their pocket and don't care who they rip off to do it! I believe it is as a good man said once: "They rob from the poor legally!"
I see where you stand now and so will most of the bloggers on here. Your heart is not to help the proverty but to fatten the pockets of those who run this town! You really don't care about the low income folks for you never gave answer to one blogger: "Can I buy icecream with foodstamps?" I do not believe they were making a joke! I believe they were trying to open your closed eyes to the fact: Over half of the citizens in Nottoway is on foodstamps! You want to keep them there!

Wait just a minute here. I do not believe that many of us would want to keep people on food stamps. I remember a store Save-A-Lot that went out of business. It was a good store to get food from. Blackstone Girl eyes are not closed I do not believe. I worked with low income people who needed help in their homes with things. There are a lot of people who need that help. I do not begrudge anyone that, it was sad to see some of the things that I have seen. And then again there are those deadbeats who just abuse the system.
If you say there aren't then you have not been where I have been. Anyone who does home health knows that for every one person who uses the system there are ten that could use more help. This has to change at the state level and up.
There is a lot to be said about attitude and gratitude. Time was people appreciated your business. Now it is hurry up and get out of my store. Leave your money here. No I am not Blackstone Girl, I am who I say I am. I got off my duff and went back to work too soon after surgery. I was working with an ungrateful patient who used everybody. I got a hernia from that but when I was operated on I found out that there was a major problem. I was laid off and now I collect un-employment. It is difficult to say the least. I am a person that does not like tooting my horn. The Lord knows what I do. But never assume anything about the bloggers here. Some of us just know that there are other ways to do something.

You are right! I too took care of the home bound! However there are those who did appreciate what I was doing. I was not doing it for money though! I did it because I cared. The pay was lousy. There are those who abuse the system and then there are those who need it and are turned away!
This I know for a fact! The change has to come with jobs! New businesses! New officals! Because the ones we have won't let that happen!
Tooting our horns won't help the matter here. We need to get the officals to see that we are tired of them running this town their way! It's time for a change. A possitive change. Yes I remember the food barn. Yes I missed it but if you talk to the man that was running it you will find out why it really closed! It wasn't because he wasn't making money! It was because he was!
I knew him well and spoke to him about why he was closing. He did not want to leave but had no choice in the matter. This is all I can say on that.

Save-a-lot went bankrupt, Guest 4. The bank foreclosed on the building. If you "think" you know what happened to that family you are sadly mistaken. They lost just about everything they had except their home. They are fine people and close friends of mine and I do know what I am talking about. Food Lion and Walmart destroyed that family owned business.

No, Guest 4, I do not want to keep people on food stamps because the bottom line is that my family and every other taxpayer in this country who has gone to work every day of their adult lives pay for those food stamps. Food stamps and all other so called entitlements are abused and abused badly. There are many many people who are down on their luck and deserve the government's help until they can get back on their feet but there are probably even more who abuse the system and collect those entitlements because they have no ambition and a house full of children and would much rather get a handout than go out and work for a living. Call me uncaring or whatever you want but I am calling it as I see it. You may look at my nice home and think we are rich but that is far from the case. We are comfortable because we have worked hard and tried to save when we could. My husband has a high school education. He started working part-time when he was 13 years old and full time when he was 18 and worked every day for 44 years. He is now retired and still has a part-time job. I went to college for 2 years and then went to work on my 20th birthday and have worked every day since then. We didn't have big jobs but we did and do work hard and have a work ethic that was taught to us by our parents, who came up during the Great Depression: work hard, take care of your family, save for a "rainy day." And as I have said time and time again, I know there are very few decent paying jobs in Blackstone, but if you have a car you can drive to Farmville, South Hill, Petersburg, Richmond, etc. to work if you really want a job. That is what my family does!!
And no, I hope to God food stamps do not pay for ice cream. Food stamps were designed to pay for necessities, not beer, wine, cigarettes, and ice cream. Don't even get me started on that one.

I would agree, Billy was ill and that was sad. Funny how illness does that to you and also I feel for those who have to go through this. I also know people who were vital and active in the community and then they were stricken with Alzheimers. The man who sold us our current home did not even know who we were a year after we closed on the home.
I can not tell you the number of times that we went to Walmart and a rude employee made comments about my husband's electronic chair. He has a ramp that can go back into the car we have. The taxes on my car is high and I would like to get the disability break on it. Speaking of that I would also like a break on house taxes, one man thought that people who had manufactored housing were not paying enough tax. He had no idea how much effort went into getting our home up to standard and building the ramp. That is one item on the agenda.
The next thing is the ADA which is the Americans With Disabilities Act. The employee at Walmart did not realize who he was talking to. But that I will take up with Bentonville and Washington. D.C.
We do not ask anyone to go broke making their places accessible, just cooperate and work with the handicapped. Some do not get it and get mad and huffy and say well go ahead sue me. That changes when the lawyers come down from the Justice Department to talk to them. That is just one of many things that you can find out about.
Obama says he wants to change things, well I am willing to give him a chance, so now what? Can he do it by himself or does he need input? Think about that.
Is it enough for you to say you want change and then go and make a start? Or is it enough to say you want change and just talk about it. You decide.

BTW I did not go into the nursing field for the money, it is hard work but because I thought maybe I could make a difference. I got interupted by disease but I went back, I was interupted again and again. Did I care about the people before I got cancer? Yes I did and did I meet some that were grateful, yes I did and it is for them that I remember and it is for them that I pushed for a Relay For Life. You see Relay For Life means many things to me. I am very proud of the people who came out to support this, it made what I knew all along come true.

Blackstone Girl, it looks like you want everything to stay dead or go deeper in the hole. Despite what you may think large stores is what a town needs to prosper, create jobs it is also the future for the young. It's not the 20th Century anymore it's the 21st Century. That is what needs to be priority is getting large stores here. There is hardly any stores around Blackstone or Crewe especially that you would see across America. The only thing in Crewe you would see across America would be Exxon and that surprises me that Crewe even has Exxon. I would have thought the town Officials would have said the famous line "I don't see the need for it" when Exxon was coming here. I seriously doubt Lowes will be in Blackstone. It would be good if that did happen just as a grocery store would be good in Crewe. Give the Dollar Store some competition. They can shoot prices on everything through the roof because there is no competition in Crewe.

I guess we can just agree to disagree. Your take is that big box stores that run local business into bankruptcy is the way to go. My take is that a lot of small successful businesses will make the town prosper. I doubt I can convince you that a healthy down town Blackstone is good for our community and you cannot convince me that big box stores are good for a small town. So there you go; we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

My word, what about Valero also known as Fas Mart? While we are at it have any of you stopped at the Fresh vegetables market. On the other side is Loretta Daniel and the Flower shop. Perhaps of late you have not been downtown to see the other little shops that are open. Not to mention Crewe Station for starters. But Blackstone Girl is right nothing anyone says is going to get you out of that convienat hole you are in. You like it there because it is for you easier to complain than to do.

I happened to drive down Carolina Avenue in Crewe the other day for the first time in a long time and was pleasantly surprised to see some new little businesses in Crewe's business district. Maybe Crewe isn't dead after all :o) Way to go, Crewe.

Yep. But they will never get it.

isn't that the kettle calling the pot black?!!! You all wine just about as much to keep the small drowning town a small drowning town while we as you call it whine to get it to be a successful town. How might that be? Well you sit back and watch this county drown. Because I already see those small companies going under. Every time I have passed by they are empty. It takes customers to keep those shops going. YOU going to spend all your hard earned dollars in all those little shops to keep them running and good luck to you. But I will keep my tax dollars spending where I am employed and that may not be in Nottoway. And You know how petty it is for you not to want to see prosperous business in here. Well if all of us keep spending out side of Nottoway then all you little businesses will keep going belly up. Now isn't that sad.

you know it is one thing to be optimistic as you call your self. But it is another thing to be so blind and neive that you think your way is the only way. Because as I recall you all made the battle when someone just suggested a few good things to change the county. It ruffled your little feathers. Well get over it you will either drown with Nottoway or watch the new beginnings either way you just have to live with what you weave. But with people like you trying to put up your so called good fight all the taxpaying dollars will continue to leave this little hole as you seen on the census another blogger posted it is declining everyday. So keep digging grave and all live in this little corner and see how well it does. But as for me and mine I will see a prosperous growing place. YOu keep living in the past and the rest of the world will pass right on by you. Basically if you don't get with the times you will be left behind. So you all just keep this little blog and keep thinking you have done something great. But you know I hope you can sip on coffee in cold days and eat icecream on hot. But we seen to many of these little shops come and go. You want to get a coffe shop up STarBucks. But you may not ever get to enjoy these things. Good luck to you.

you may call me a pesamist I say I am realistic and it is time you get with it.

Guest2 please get a grip and realize that you have a symptom called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. You seem to be arguing with everyone and yourself. It is understandable that what happed to you and it was bad. Reread the posts and you will see what I mean.