U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne presents Escambia Drug Store owner Kenneth Barnett with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, honoring the business’s more than 103 years of service.

U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., visited Atmore on Friday, and took the time to honor one of the county’s oldest businesses.

Byrne spent about an hour Friday morning visiting Escambia Drug Store in downtown Atmore, where he talked with store owner Kenneth Barnett and several other local citizens.

During his visit, Byrne presented Barnett with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition, honoring the business for serving Escambia County citizens for more than 103 years.

Byrne also talked with members of the store’s “coffee club,” who regularly stop by to enjoy hot coffee and chit-chat in the early morning.

“So y’all just come in here and solve all of the problems,” Byrne said, jokingly.

“Sometimes,” Giles Chapman said, with a chuckle. “Although we’ve got one or two who might tell a lie.”

For more on this story, see the Wednesday, March 18, edition of The Atmore Advance.

Kenneth Barnett talks about Escambia Drug Store’s long-gone soda fountain. Listening are, clockwise from Barnett, Marshall Rogers, Sheryl Vickery, U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, Giles Chapman and Tom Tschida.