Bryant Takes A Bow

(November 20, 1925 - November 25, 2007)

See The Article At NWAnews.com

After celebrating his 50 th year with Collier Drug Store, Louis Bryant made a decision: He intended to set a record no other employee would ever touch. “ I decided to go another 10 just to make sure, ” the 81-year-old said with a glint in his eye. He told his boss, Carl Collier, that he would retire after 60 years, “ Lord willing. ” God went along with the plan, and on Wednesday, Bryant’s retirement party drew a crowd of about 200 friends, family, co-workers and other well-wishers. Among them was Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody, who proclaimed Jan. 3, 2007, “ Louis Bryant Jr. Day. ” In his acknowledgement remarks, Bryant gave the credit for his achievement to his friend upstairs: “ Thank the Lord he let me live as long as I have, and he gave me the strength to work at the drug store. ”

Called to Collier’s Bryant’s years at the drug store started with a sore throat. Raised in Fayetteville, he was drafted at age 18 by the Army to fight in World War II. After 17 months in Europe and 10 more in the South Pacific, he returned home. He worked for a short time as a bus driver in Detroit, where his brother lived, and passed through Cincinnati to visit his mother before coming back to Fayetteville to stay.

He was working part time at the local bus station when he went into the drug store — known then as the Red Cross Drug Store on the north side of the Square — to fill a prescription for his throat. He ran into owner Morris G. Collier, or M. G., who had known him when he was “ this high, ” Bryant said, his hand lowered to about knee level.

Collier questioned Bryant about his work situation and asked if he’d like to come back that afternoon to discuss possible employment. Bryant agreed, and the two men had a chat in the parking lot in Collier’s big blue Oldsmobile.

“I’d like to hire you, ” Collier said.

“OK. You can, ” Bryant replied.

“ When can you start?”

At 8 a. m. the next morning — March 5, 1947 — 21-year-old Bryant reported for work. No application or drug test was necessary; a man’s word was good enough in those days, he said.

As a receiving clerk, Bryant’s duties included checking in merchandise, calculating selling prices and stocking shelves. He also made deliveries and did maintenance work on the building and the soda fountain Collier’s operated in the ’ 50 s after opening a new store on Dickson Street.

When Collier was busy with the store, he often called on Bryant to shuttle his children — Morris H., Jane and Carl — to and from school, ballet and piano lessons, the store and their home on Washington Avenue. For deliveries, Bryant drove one of the store’s Fords, but for personal errands, he was entrusted with the blue Oldsmobile.

Carl, who was 5 at the time, recalls Bryant as a cheerful and constant presence in his life and family, as well as a pillar of the local black community.

“ Louis helped raise us and also took away any of that color barrier, ” he said. “ Fayetteville was still segregated — they still had black and white restrooms at Frisco Station. Louis helped us realize … you don’t look at color when you look at people. That’s why he’s been such a good influence on all of the young people for 60 years that have worked with us at the drug store. ”

This year marks the Colliers’ 90 th in business in Fayetteville. Mel Collier started the store in 1917, and M. G. came on board in 1930. Bry- ant worked under M. G. until 1971, when Carl and his brother, now deceased, bought the business from their father. “ They’re nice, ” Bryant said of the family that has employed him for most of his lifetime. “ All of ’em. ” ‘ A walking history book ’

When asked to describe Bryant, friends and coworkers responded with “ unique, ” “ fun, ” “ a cornerstone of the building” and “ a walking history book. ” Indeed, Bryant has watched Fayetteville grow from a town of 6, 000 to what it is today, he said, “ and I’ve delivered medicine to a lot of those folks. ” He remembers driving delivery cars down streets without traffic lights, and stop signs were positioned in the middle of the road instead of on the right. He spent many an afternoon at the Royal Theatre, where a dime got him into a movie and a nickel bought “ two big ol’ dippers of ice cream. ”

The black population was much smaller in those days, Bryant said. While most Fayettevillians treated him with respect, there were newcomers who “ had some remarks to make, ” he said.

Once when Bryant made a delivery to a man who’d recently arrived from Texas, he walked up to the front door and the man told him to take it around back.

“ Don’t no darkies come to my front door, ” the man told him.

Bryant replied that the man could either accept the delivery at the front door, or he would be glad to take it back to the store. The man said take it back, so Bryant did.

When the man called M. G. Collier, he was informed that there were some nice colored people in town, including Louis Bryant, who would not be going to his back door. About a week later, Bryant made another delivery to the man. He walked up to the front porch and rang the bell. The man greeted him by name and told him he’d been a plantation owner in Texas, and all the black people in town went to his back door. He told Bryant that he’d been under the impression that “ all colored people were alike, ” Bryant said, adding that he’d been happy to correct that notion. Saying goodbye

Each person who spoke at Bryant’s retirement party mentioned one thing in common: They love to hear him tell stories. Another legacy he’ll leave is the vast collection of newspaper clippings that paper the walls of the drug store’s back rooms. He started the hobby in 1984, the year his son Louis Perry Bryant, an Arkansas State Trooper, was shot and killed by a man he pulled over for speeding in DeQueen.

The clippings had to be taken down a few years ago during the store’s remodeling, but Bryant went right back to posting them afterward.

Retiring is emotional for him, Bryant said, but he will use the time to work around his house and visit family in Cincinnati as well as a daughter in San Diego.

His other children, William and Lois, live in Fayetteville.

Carl Collier said Bryant would be missed at the store, but he was sure he would be around. A parking space in the Collier’s lot is marked with a sign that reads “ Reserved for Louis Bryant in appreciation of service since 1947. ”

“ When it’s the only one there and I have to use it some days, it brings back pleasant memories, ” Collier said. “ We’ll keep that sign up for a long time. ”

The Collier Drug Family will miss you, Louis.

November 20, 1925 to November 25, 2007