On Friday afternoon, equipment sat ready to demolish the former Wilbanks Store on Hwy. 79 in Brister. Opened in the early 1930s by D.L. Wilbanks, the general store sold groceries, gas, and even fabrics to make dresses. Wilbanks had a shop across the highway where he worked on cars and where men gathered to play dominoes under a tree outside. Hudson and Lurlene (Prince) Wilbanks took over from Hudson’s father years later. Their daughter, Debbie Matthews, said, “Everybody shopped there. Mother worked there most of her married life.” When times were hard and people couldn’t pay for goods, Matthews said her mother would take milk, buttermilk, or eggs in trade because she considered it “a service to the community.” In 1980, Lurlene Wilbanks began leasing the store to other people to run. Out of business for many years since, it had fallen into a dilapidated condition.
Banner-News Deena Hardin