The afternoon sun hammered down on the back of Doug Allen’s weather-beaten neck.

As business owners in Southeast Volusia County, we are used to the slow business months; when the kids go back to school and we wait for upcoming events such as Biktoberfest and then the snow-birds return.  This year is just a little harder.  So how do we survive?

Built in 1925, the arched façade at 120 Sams Avenue once greeted people as they posted their mail, before that on this property stood Volusia County’s oldest Schoolhouse.

The bubbling water babbled as it slid down the glassy-smooth surface of the hand-fired urn.

What is it you’re looking for – entertainment, fresh veggies, hand crafted toys, homeopathic cures, a gallon of fresh-squeezed orange juice, exotic flowers, designer nuts, just caught seafood or salt from the foot hills of the Himalayas?

The smoke of hickory and black jack oak wafted from the smoke house, out back.

The clippers whirred to life and barber Ed Ellison chuckled, “It’s a real blessing to be a barber – particularly in the summertime!”

The NOAA weather radio crackles to life.

16-year old Lauren Tyler reached into the old-fashion looking ice box and pulled out a fist-sized chunk of ice.

16-year old Lauren Tyler reached into the old-fashion looking ice box and pulled out a fist-sized chunk of ice.