[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 17 (Monday, January 28, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E99]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CELEBRATING BOONE DRUG'S 100TH ANNIVERSARY

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                           HON. VIRGINIA FOXX

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 28, 2019

  Ms. FOXX of North Carolina. Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate 
Boone Drug in Boone, North Carolina, on celebrating the 100th 
anniversary of the founding of its original store, opened in North 
Carolina's Fifth District by Dr. George Kelly Moose. With this 
longevity of service in the community, Boone Drug can truly claim to be 
a neighborhood institution. When it opened, it was one of only two 
drugstores in Boone, and it has thrived in the midst of the changes of 
the pharmaceutical industry through the last century.
  For 50 years, customers went to see Dr. Moose, walking from miles 
away to buy their medicine at Boone Drug. The upstairs of the building 
was occupied by a group of doctors and a dentist, which kept constant 
traffic moving in and out of the store. Dr. Moose even kept his 
drugstore open until each doctor had seen his last patient, often late 
into the night.
  In 1947, two brothers, Dr. Odell Kelly--``O.K.'' for Odell Kelly--and 
Dr. Wayne Richardson, joined Dr. Moose at the pharmacy. The space was 
expanded for a soda fountain and grill, where many locals socialized, 
and the town's movers and shakers talked politics.
  Joe Miller was next to join the Boone Drug ownership. Having worked 
at the fountain in high school, the Richardson brothers convinced him 
to go to pharmacy school and eventually made him a fourth owner.
  Dr. Miller was joined by Dr. John Stacy and Dr. Jim Furman. They have 
kept alive the legacy of customer service, philanthropy, and business 
expansion of their predecessors. The Boone Drug pharmacists often 
volunteered their services, staying open until 9 p.m.; so that 
physicians could work long hours and patients could fill their 
prescriptions after a late-night doctor's visit. The store's philosophy 
was that anyone who came in with a prescription left with medicine, 
even if one didn't have the means to cover the entire prescription's 
cost right away.
  In the mid-1980s, Dr. Miller broadened the store's horizons, selling 
art supplies. The popular art supply store, named Cheap Joe's Art 
Stuff, began in the upstairs of the drugstore. At first, art supplies 
were placed on shelves between over-the-counter medicines downstairs. 
Eventually, what started as Dr. Miller's hobby outgrew the drugstore 
and Cheap Joe's Art Stuff moved into its own location, serving 
customers worldwide.
  Although the drugstore's fountain and grill closed in 2011, the 
owners have filled its former space with a nonprofit community kitchen 
that feeds the hungry. Today, there are 17 Boone Drug locations in 
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The pharmacists in these 
pharmacies serve as direct contacts for medical information without an 
appointment or the expense of a doctor's visit. Boone Drug provides a 
shining example of the important role that pharmacies play in 
supporting healthy communities. They provide immunizations, durable 
medical equipment, counseling, and expertise in healthcare.
  I have been a patron of Boone Drug since moving to Boone as a student 
at Appalachian State University and always enjoy my visits to the 
store. I continue to love all the wonderful employees and am privileged 
to represent this small business and local pharmacy. It treats clients 
like family, which is the hallmark of a small-town drugstore that lasts 
a century, and I wish Boone Drug another 100 years of success.

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