Williams’ Orchard offers country fresh food from Alabama and more
Williams' Orchard ... and Garden Center ... and Ice Cream Parlour is a three-fold treat for customers at the Argo store. (Donna Cope/NewsCenter)
It’s said that you can’t be all things to all people.
But Williams’ Orchard … and Garden Center … and Ice Cream Parlour in Argo does a fine job trying. For nearly 40 years, the store and garden shop has made a name for itself, making “down-home delicious” country fried pies and offering fresh fruits and vegetables, farm-fresh eggs, local honey and seasonal flowers – all from Alabama. The exception is the store’s authentic Amish goods such as butter and cheeses from Kentucky and Ohio.
Karmen Williams, the daughter of owner Tommy Williams, said the family has invested its heart and soul in the business. Even the location is all about family. About 60 years ago, her grandfather opened Williams’ Hilltop Grocery and Service Station at the site. Back then, the Williamses’ living quarters were in the back of the store. Today, the family home is across U.S. Highway 11.
Williams’ Orchard carries local fruit and vegetables as seasonally available.
“We have fresh vegetables, fruit and tomatoes from Chandler Mountain,” Williams said. “We’ve had Blount County peaches all summer. During winter, the produce is pretty much from around the U.S.A..” Though it’s past the growing season, she said that shoppers will still find some peaches. The nice selection of jams, jellies, relishes, local honey and Amish food always draws customers.
The store’s claim to fame is its homemade pies – a matter of pride to the Williamses and their employees. The baking started out all in the family. When Karmen Williams’ brother, Greg, was a Springville High School student and a member of the Future Farmers of America, he had a school project that changed their lives.
“To help out, Dad planted 50 apple trees in the orchard,” Williams said. “We have 80 acres and we’ve added more trees over the years. We have about 350 muscadine vines.” About 10 of the trees planted by Tommy Williams remain, which continue to bear fruit for pies.
Order fresh-from-the-oven pies year-round
“We start baking around 5 a.m., and we’ll spend all day baking, sometimes,” said Williams, who rose early for many years to begin baking. “If you come in during the holidays, you’ll see pies everywhere, but there will be a name on every one.” Customers pre-order baked goods for Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. The pies – apple, pecan, coconut and macaroon, pumpkin, blueberry and cherry – are in high demand.
“Pecan and apple are neck and neck, as far as people asking for a certain pie,” Williams said. “Those are always everyone’s favorites because most people will eat those. Everyone likes a home-baked pie. We get at least 300 orders for pies at the holidays.”
Williams learned about baking pies from her mother, Ruby, who passed away in 1992. That’s when she took the “mantle” as the store’s baker.
“Sometimes I’d bake all day and night, until 5:30 in the morning, so people had their holiday pies.”
A place where smiles and good food meet
The store is busiest on the weekends, when customers come in for fresh produce or, maybe, a special treat. That was the case when Dennis Griffin ambled in one Saturday with his son, Michael, to visit Williams’ Ice Cream Parlour.
“Michael was pretty good all week so I promised him an ice cream cone,” Griffin said, with a smile. An Argo resident, Griffin has become friends with the Williamses over the years.
“This is kind of a unique place,” said Griffin, an electrician. “We come in to shop about once a week. We got our pumpkins here and saved a day-long trip to Hayden’s pumpkin patch. We bought our fall decorations here – all the hay and pumpkins. I call this the Argo pumpkin patch.”
Cashier Carol Mills offers a smile and a greeting to everyone who enters. She calls her work at Williams’ Orchard “a ministry, of sorts.” Mills has come to know many customers on a first-name basis.
“People come from all over to buy the Amish butter and other products,” she said. “They’re really good. I buy the butter.”
Like Griffin, other Saturday shoppers stopped to look at the pansies, mums and snapdragons before buying groceries. Some folks were in a hurry to get home to watch their favorite teams run onto the field.
“It all revolves around the ball games,” Williams said, with a laugh. “Men come in with their wives, talking about the football game. I’ve threatened getting a big-screen TV for the parking lot.”
Williams’ Orchard, located at 1028 U.S. Highway 11 in Argo (about 6 miles from Springville), is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
