An Ace Hardware that no longer exist referenced in popular TV show

In the late 1980s, the store caught fire and was destroyed. It never reopened. "It was the biggest fire Heflin had ever seen," the store owner's granddaughter, Suzanne Payne, remembered. "It carried paint, kerosene, all types of flammable things. It was devastating to my father because he had just lost my mother the year before."

VIRAL HAT MOMENT BRINGS OPPORTUNITY TO HELP

Payne began searching for a way to turn the moment into an opportunity.

While searching for that opportunity, Payne’s nephew, who was named after her father, was diagnosed with leukemia. The only place for treatment was St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In a heartbreaking turn of events, the child passed away before he could go to St. Jude, but Payne found her purpose.

“I thought, ‘What better way to commemorate my dad's store and also honor all those children who did make it to St. Jude's, even though our loved one didn't,” Payne said. “So, every penny of profits from these caps goes to St. Jude's.”

“I'm just amazed at how this has developed and why I ever question, I guess you might say, Providence, God, or whatever about why things happen, I’ll never know,” said Payne. “I don't anymore because they happen, and it's meant to be.”



Payne said she is thankful to honor her dad’s store while giving back to the community he loved so much.

“He was not a man of eloquent words, but he said more in a sentence than some people do in a whole paragraph or a whole page,” said Payne. “He would be proud of me. I know he would, because but he would be proud of me if I picked up a stick and put it out of the sidewalk. He wasn't a man of many words, but his words counted and he would be so proud.”

Caps are $30 and can be ordered by emailing rkpsop816@yahoo.com.