08/25/2026
Have you ever wondered how the beautiful oak cooler ended up in the General Store? I always did.
Well… today an older gentleman walked in with his brother and slowly made his way downstairs. “Told me to come along”, he was going to tell me how the oak cooler ended up at the General Store. This man was a teacher at Metro High School when it opened in October 1974. They eventually started a garden off East Post Road, but then moved it to where Go Daddy is now located. In 1978 ish someone donated the oak cooler to the Metro Gardens for refrigeration and it was stocked with vegetables until around 1983. At that time they inherited new refrigeration.
The young couple that owned the Ronan House Bed and Breakfast apparently had something to do with the General Store as well. The gentleman and some students made a deal with them to cut and stack wood for lodging and would eat at the General Store. They had a conversation at some point that the gardens no longer needed the antique oak cooler and didn’t know what to do with it. The owners of the B&B asked if they could get the cooler to Stone City? Well, along with 6 or so students, who somehow got the cooler on a low boy trailer attached to an old John Deere tractor it made its way to Stone City. Once they finally arrived at the General Store they asked where they couple wanted it dropped off. The couple said, “down there” pointing at the old outside limestone stairs. The gentleman and students took the doors off, put lots of ropes around the cooler and lowered it to the landing, turned it around end to end. Apparently, almost lost it in the river. Before they started, the gentleman told the students, “if it gets away from us, give it a push”. So, the cooler is now on the landing at the bottom of the steps. It wouldn’t fit through the door. No surprise there. They had to completely dismantle the door to get the cooler inside. The bar was not there at the time and they moved the cooler to the spot where it sits now.
I was in the right place at the right time!
