By Ed Simmons, Jr.
cpreporter@lcs.net
Window shopping the sidewalks of Bowling Green just got all the more delightfully intriguing with the recent opening of two more antique shops, Stone Creek Antiques on Main Street and Classic Cottage Art and Antiques on Milford Street.
Yes, it's hard to pass by the shiny display windows with their picturesque curiosities without venturing inside for a little relaxing browsing, only to fall head-over-heels in love with a reasonably-priced antiquity and do your part to help the economy along. Together with the town's two older Main Street shops, Country Angel and Campbell's Shoppe, that brings Bowling Green's total to a tantalizing four.
"We'll get this town on the map maybe," said Billy Cecil who helps operate the Country Angel with his daughter Ann Griffin, her husband Charlie and their energetic five-year-old A.J. The shop's founder, Vickie Cecil, greatly beloved in Bowling Green and known for her spectacular display windows, passed on last winter and is much missed, but her influence on the town's antique-scene lingers. Years back, she was anxious about opening the Country Angel, but Billy encouraged and supported her. Now he's encouraging others.
Susan Durrett, who owns Stone Creek across the street, also credits Billy with her move from the Fredericksburg Antique Court of Shops. "I'm glad I made the move," she said. "All of us send our customers to each other. Each has a different flavor. We're all kind of different," she said.
Billy also encouraged Carrie Wright to open Classic Cottage Art and Collectibles close by on Milford Street, where Jan Duffy and Mary James offer watercolor lessons, and an oil painting instructor will be coming soon. Customers can also learn to bead. "I enjoyed watching shop for Vickie Cecil," Carrie said. "I liked it so much I decided to open my own shop." And nearby at Campbell's Shoppe, 24-year-old Brandi Wright is enjoying building the business her grandmother Catherine Campbell started, first as a music store in 1996. Catherine is teaching Brandi all she knows. "We go to auctions together. The accounting, the taxes, we do it all together," said Brandi, who beams when she talks about her grandmother.
Knitting the four antique shops together is Cafe´on Main Street and Jack's Cafe´. Susan at Stone Creek said many of her Friday and Saturday customers stop there for lunch as they travel the scenic route and avoid congestion on speedy-but-boring Interstate 95. After lunch they come browsing, and she in turns sends them along to Brandi, Carrie and the ever-welcoming Country Angel. "And our prices are better than Fredericksburg and Richmond!" Susan said.