Truckin' on the Western Branch

The Mayor of Churchland—A. W. Johnson Johnson’s daughter, Pat Orgain, said, My father left a legacy of friendship—people referred to him as “The Mayor of Churchland.”

He played semi-pro baseball for a while and did not know a stranger. When the store closed at 6 p.m., all his buddies were there and he’d be cutting pieces of black rind cheese. They had all started their morning at Rodman’s. Bill Lewis would drive his tractor to the store . Alec Walker, who owned Pine Grove Dairy, where Stonebridge is now, bagged groceries for my father.

A. W. Johnson

When the store delivered groceries, they put the cold stuff in the fridge, left the rest on the kitchen table and picked up money left for them on the table—no doors were ever locked.

Judge Jimmy Hawks said, “A. W. Johnson was such a nice man. When I got candy and my nickel back from the candy machine, I gave the nickel back to A.W. I couldn’t take the money from him.”

Tom Parker said, “A.W. taught me to ride a bicycle backwards—something I still can do.”

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