Winter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moon of the Long Nights<\/p>\n
Richie is a long time friend, from childhood…<\/p>\n
“ALEXANDRIA \u2014 A couple of years before he retired from Delco Remy in 2006, Richard Howard bought the Alexandria Feed & Supply on Indiana 9.<\/p>\n
On any given day, at any time between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., several cars may be parked outside the building, giving the deceptive impression that a vigorous trade in pig, horse and chicken feeds is taking place behind its doors.<\/p>\n
But the fact is the store has been closed for about three years.<\/p>\n
Instead, the building is used for daily informal meet-ups of retirees who come to solve world problems, trade dirty jokes and reminisce about old cowboy shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s become an adult day care center,\u201d Howard said. \u201cWe\u2019re not pillars of the community, I don\u2019t think.\u201d<\/p>\n
The feed store is one of several places, including the Circle K store in Summitville and the McDonald\u2019s in Alexandria where seniors \u2014 most of them men \u2014 find companionship once they leave behind the workplace where for decades most of their social interaction took place. With few options for seniors throughout the county, these communities are making their own.<\/p>\n
At the Alexandria feed store, where the table is spread with a junk food feast of party peanuts, chips and butterscotch pie, the regulars hang out seven days a week, even on holidays.<\/p>\n
The tradition started, Howard said, when he still sold feed.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of the guys would come up here. We\u2019d have coffee and doughnuts,\u201d the Alexandria native said. \u201cIf I sell the building, I\u2019d have to go back home. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the place where the regulars, like Stephen McPhearson and Frank Davis, come to keep up with local news, attracting the occasional visit from politicians looking to persuade them to swing votes their way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gets pretty heated up here sometimes. We agree to disagree. It\u2019s about half Republicans and half Democrats,\u201d Howard said.<\/p>\n
McPhearson is a 1996 retiree from Delco Remy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can come in here and know everything that\u2019s going on in Alex and everything going on in Frankton,\u201d he said.”<\/p>\n
Anderson Herald-Bulletin<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Winter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moon of the Long Nights Richie is a long time friend, from childhood… “ALEXANDRIA \u2014 A couple of years before he retired from Delco Remy in 2006, Richard Howard bought the Alexandria Feed & Supply on Indiana 9. On any given day, at any time between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., several cars may … Continue reading At The Feed Store<\/span>