17-plus tons of melons flood into town

Word came early last week -- 33,800 pounds of cantaloupes were coming to Wake Forest to be distributed to the needy. Where should they be delivered?

Bettie Murchison is executive director of the DuBois Center, which operates a food pantry out of the gym on North Franklin Street. She sent a quick e-mail to downtown businessman Bob Johnson asking for the use of a loading dock and a forklift.

Johnson forwarded her e-mail to a number of folks, and by 9:30 a.m. this past Monday, at least a dozen giant-sized boxes full of cantaloupes had been placed in the parking lot between the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce and the Cotton Company.

A few minutes later, forklift operator Speck Freeman and company were unloading boxes of pitted melons over at the DuBois Center on North Franklin Street.

First, Freeman stacked the melons on the shady side of the gym. Then, he carefully maneuvered his forklift inside, carrying one box after another into the air-conditioned building.

Inside, Murchison met with Randy Luddy, who had paid for Freeman's forklift services, and Billy Watkins, who works for the N.C. Department of Agriculture. Watkins' department works each summer with the Society of St. Andrews; Society members help gather leftover produce to distribute to the needy.

These particular cantaloupes, grown in Nashville, were not taken to grocery stores because they were either "too small, too big or had soft spots," Watkins said.

Several hours after the delivery truck drove into town, volunteer Betty Ray said that clients at Tri-Area Ministry on East Holding Avenue were already taking melons home.

Two boxes had been dropped off there, and "I'm pretty sure they'll all be gone by the end of the day," she said.

Inside the DuBois Center, Murchison was making plans to distribute the rest of the ripening fruit. Flyers and e-mails had been sent to area churches, and she was looking for volunteers to take melons to area rest homes.

"We'll put outside what we thought we'd get rid of today, and the rest we'll keep cool in the AC," she said.