A Bottoming Out of 142-Year Trend
For 142 years, owners of Penn’s country store pointed to the nearest tree or bush when customers asked to use the restroom. Not anymore.
About 1,000 people turned out Saturday to dedicate the store’s brand-new outhouse.
The celebration included a free outdoor concert by guitarist Chet Atkins and Billy Ed Wheeler, who wrote the song “Ode to the Little Brown Shack Out Back.”
Offered for sale were Great Outhouse Blowout programs, T-shirts and caps, and $1 rolls of Outhouse Blowout Tissue, wrapped in newspaper.
“I didn’t really want to go to the dedication of an outhouse,” said Nadene Williamson, who drove about 80 miles to attend at the insistence of her husband, a Gravel Switch native. “It wasn’t my idea of a good time, but the entertainment is good.”
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