CUTWORM'S A Looking Store
Daughter of county legend revives father's store
MARCUS KEELY Sentinel Writer
 | | Marcus Keely/ Sentinel Photo Judie Greenstone, the late "Cutworm" Phillips' daughter, shows off an antique milk churn located in the newly renovated and revived Cutworm's museum. |
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Not too very long ago the windows were dark. The door, once a beckoning passageway that seemed to never close, was firmly shut. And instead of a content and jolly old man sitting outside on the sidewalk in a big wooden rocking chair, there was nothing: no man, no chair, nothing. One thing was for certain; whatever had been was no more.
Two years ago Wayne Phillips quietly passed away. A Clay County legend, "Cutworm," as his friends called him, had been the longtime owner and operator of a general-store on the Hayesville square. Clothing, shoes, food and many other necessities lined the walls of the building. In the back was a butcher.
People from the far reaches of Clay County would travel into town to bring their meat to be cleaned, cut and cured. It could almost be said that Cutworm's store was the Wal- Mart of its day (a delicate comparison at most, as it was the advent of the Wal-Martesque "supermarket" that forced the store out of business). Because of increasing competition from larger stores during the 1960s and 1970s, Cutworm gave new life to his beloved general-store by transforming it into a museum of unique and unusual artifacts that he had collected throughout his time in the area. Most of the pieces were native to Clay County, however some seemed to have no traceable origin.
 | | Marcus Keely/ Sentinel Photo Judie Greenstone now occupies the large wooden rocking chair that her father once sat in. |
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As the years passed, the museum captured the attention of not only local residents, but others throughout the tri-state area. This interest was fanned by various publications throughout the Southeast that would sometimes print articles on the matchless attraction that Cutworm's store was quickly becoming. Slowly but surely, more and more "stuff" accumulated in the little one-room building, until eventually there seemed to be no room for Cutworm himself. The solution, it seemed to Cutworm, was to simply sit outside. He had one of his friends fashion a large wooden rocking chair, and outside on the sidewalk he placed a number of old school desks and chairs. The museum was quickly becoming a meeting place where one could sit for a spell and talk about anything, everything and sometimes nothing. However, as older men are prone to do, not all that was said in front of Cutworm's museum was true.
 | | Marcus Keely/ Sentinel Photo Odds and ends abound at Cutworm's. This display case houses unique tobacco pipes, old keys, antique pocket knives and various other items too small to be displayed out on the shelves. |
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The talking finally came to an end two years ago, as Wayne "Cutworm" Phillips quietly passed away. Fittingly, the memorial service was held at the museum. Not sure what to do with the building now that its creator had passed on, the Phillips' closed down the museum, leaving everything locked inside. Naturally, it didn't stay shut for long. Six months after-the-fact, Cutworm's daughter, Judie Greenstone, decided to quit her job at the local pharmacy and restore her father's masterpiece. Greenstone, a native of the area and a graduate of Hayesville High School, had moved back to Hayesville in 1998 from Roswell, Georgia. It seemed like the natural thing to do at the time. The children had graduated from high school, her husband had a work opportunity in the area and her father's health was becoming more and more of an issue.
 | | Marcus Keely/ Sentinel Photo Judie Greenstone demonstrates how to use the antique churn that sits on the ground beside her. Numerous churns from around the area reside in the museum. This particular churn is one of Greenstone's favorites. |
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When her father eventually passed away, Greenstone decided she would preserve and honor his memory by restoring the one thing that was most dear to him. Multitudes of people from all over the county would come up to her and talk about their experiences with the museum before Cutworm's death.
"People would come in," she pointed out, "and say `Is it ever going to be open again?'"
Though unbeknownst to Judie at the time, the answer to that question was a resounding "yes." Starting with the clutter that littered the floor, Greenstone made an effort to sort through everything in her father's store to determine what was worth keeping and what was unsalvageable. "One time I took three tons of garbage to the dump," she said, "I think Daddy's philosophy was when you're done with it, throw it under the counter." Because of the mold that had accumulated on the walls of the building, Judie worked with a mask on for a period of six weeks. All-in-all, Greenstone did almost everything to repair her father's museum. She took the ceiling down, repainted the walls and shelves, and cleaned a majority of the pieces. As a result, the only money she spent in the process was to purchase materials.
 | | Marcus Keely/ Sentinel Photo A collection of cowbells occupies one of the many shelves in Cutworm's. Though most of the bells are rusty, they still manage to ring. Years ago, when Clay County had more of an agriculturally-based society, the cowbells helped farmers locate their cows who would graze unbound by fences. |
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Hence, when Bud Ashe, a family friend, told her that "Cutworm would have killed her if he had known how much money she'd spent reviving the store," she replied, "Bud, I haven't spent anything on labor." Though it was hard work, Greenstone realizes that it was necessary. "It's like my son Jeb said," she reiterated, "you had to put your hands on everything in here. If you just grabbed up a handful of stuff and assumed that there was nothing to it, that it was old papers and garbage, right in the middle, or the bottom of that, you'd find something really neat. It literally takes touching everything."
Some of Greenstone's favorite pieces include a device that puts ruffles around the bottom of a petticoat, an organ grinder, a governor for a steam engine, a various assortment of antique cowbells, a historic washing machine, and a prisoner's chain and ball that hangs from the ceiling of the museum. One of her other favorites is an old fire extinguisher from Littleton, Colorado. When heated by a fire, the glass container holding the fire extinguishing liquid would be punctured by the metal stand holding it. This would effectively put out the fire. When she figures out where these and other pieces came from, Judie has the full intention of labeling them with their place of origin. In this way, the museum will come to play a greater role in the preservation and presentation of local historical items.
Though still a work in progress, the museum, called "Cutworm's," is now open to the public. There are no set hours of operation. The museum is simply open when Greenstone is there, which, most of the time, is in the afternoon of every day but Sunday. And don't worry about an entrance fee. The museum is free.
"Somebody was in here a while ago that I didn't know," Greenstone said, "and she said `Oh, my goodness, you have to charge.' And I said, `I don't think I'm going to do that.' And she said, `well at least put a donation box.' The museum, Greenstone feels, is a memorial, not a moneymaker. Also, don't expect to see something you like and ask for a price. You'll just get the same answer as everyone else: "priceless." Nothing in the museum is for sale. It's just a "looking store."
Cutworm's is located on the Hayesville square between Phillips & Lloyd Bookstore and the county offices.
To comment on this article, e-mail Marcus at keelma6@wfu.edu.
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