Hangin' with the morning crew

Before most begin daily duties, a group of farmers meet at Cecilia Farm Service for coffee and conversation.

Becca Owsley

The early morning coffee crew includes several farmers who meet most mornings at Cecilia Farm Service.

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Becca Owsley

Clayton Grey, left, and Tony Raizor drink coffee on the second shift of visitors to Cecilia Farm Service.

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Becca Owsley

Manager Greg Thomas and Glen Campbell listen to customers as they discuss life and farming.

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Becca Owsley

Tommy Clark, one of the early morning crew, starts his day with a cup of coffee at Cecilia Farm Service.

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Becca Owsley

Kevin Mobley sits on a stack of deer corn while drinking coffee.

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Some come in before starting. Others already have done a morning’s work.

They are the regulars, the coffee club or morning crew. They have their normal seats, the same ones every day. If a chair is not available, bags of deer corn will do.

Farmers often start trickling in before 7 a.m. and a second shift arrives around 8 a.m. The store opens earlier than most farm stores this time of year to cater to the early morning crowd.

Topics of conversation vary each day — except on Mondays, when the conversation always drifts to a NASCAR recap — but the faces remain the same.

On a recent morning, the early crew was Charlie Stuecker, Tommy Clark, Jimmy Stuecker and Kevin Mobley. Later, Tony Raizor, Clayton Grey and Will Simcoe wandered in.

The conversation was about who might be buying cattle, how much ham brought at the state fair auction, who won at the state fair, curing ham, the weather and need for rain, sports, who is sick, the earthquake and hurricane on the east coast, shelling corn, raccoons in Radcliff, auctions and the TV show “Swamp People.”

During basketball season, the University of Kentucky Wildcats always are a hot topic at Cecilia Farm Service, Manager Greg Thomas said.

A little business was discussed and there was a lot of laughing and joking around, too.

Clark works with the stockyards, so every Wednesday morning the group gets a market report.

When Grey came in later in the morning, they settled the question about who’s buying cattle. It’s not Grey.

“Boy, those rumors get around,” Grey said. “I chop one load of silage and see what happens.”

The first stop for many is the coffee pot. There’s a rule about the coffee. If it’s empty when you get a cup you have to make the next pot.

It becomes a waiting game. Regulars watch each other to see who will cave first to get the next cup.

Some are accused of counting the cups so they’ll know when it runs out.

Raizor came in on the second shift and headed to the coffee pot. It was out of coffee. One person said they’d been waiting two hours for someone to come in to make a fresh pot. Raizor accused them of setting him up.

Of course, he was critiqued by the other farmers in the room as he made the coffee.

But is the coffee that good?

“I drink more of this coffee than anywhere else,” Mobley said.

They all have their reasons for their early morning gathering spot.

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” Mobley said.

Many used to come in early to check market prices and weather reports. Some still do, but many now have that information on smartphones.

In the spring farmers don’t stay around as long, Mobley said. There are times of the year when farmers don’t have as much time for socializing because they are out in the fields.

During the spring, he comes in early to get things he needs for the day; this time of year he just comes in for coffee.

Thomas thinks the crew comes in for the conversation and to see the guys in the store.

“I don’t know, why do you come down here?” Thomas asked Clark.

“I really don’t know,” Clark answered, laughing. “I drive a long way to come by here every morning, farther than anyone.”

He drives more than 10 miles.   

“I paid $10 for this cup of coffee,” he joked.

Thomas believes they simply come in for a cup of coffee and to socialize a while.

“If that coffee pot wasn’t there, they wouldn’t come,” Thomas said. “But since it is there, they come in to get a cup of coffee, talk a while and then start their day.”

Becca Owsley can be reached at (270) 505-1741 or bowsley@thenewsenterprise.com.