Harry McAllister – Mr. Campbellton Farm Services

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    Mark Skinner | TIMES - Harry McAllister goes about his job in the store. 

    Harry McAllister is a fixture at Cambellton Farm Services in Campbellton, Florida. Ronald Barber took over the business in 1980 and McAllister was an integral part of that business then and remains so today. Barber’s dad, Harold Barber, purchased the business in 1980. Prior to that, it was owned by R. C. Peacock and Sons.
    Barber knows he has a gem of an employee with McAllister, “He is so keen on where everything is. We might not know where this trailer is or how many pounds of peanuts is in this tank but he does. He just keeps up with so much stuff, it is just beyond me. His mind is so keen. He can tell me, if we took a nurse tank to a farmer and it’s been out there a week and I’ve forgot, he can tell me and does that trailer is out there at John Bob’s farm. He’s got a real good sense of memory and a lot of knowledge of what is going on in this yard.”
    Harry McAllister is a very soft-spoken man, 85 years young and eagerly awaiting his 76th birthday on September 27 of this year. McAllister says he attended several schools throughout his youth noting, “There were schools in just about every little down back then. My last one was St. Paul but it’s closed now.” He left school at 16 years of age and came to work for R.C Peacock and Sons at the age of 18.
    Asked about the changes he’s seen in his nearly 70 years on the job at the business, a big smile crosses McAllister’s face, “Money, I was making $6 a day back then and the money is sure better today.”
    McAllister says about his job, “I do a little bit of everything. I try to help the young ones coming on, show them how things are done.” According to those who have had the pleasure of trading with the establishment over the last few decades, he knows the business from one end to the other.
    McAllister is married Eula McAllister and they have five children, all grown today. They are three boys and two girls with all living in Jackson County except one who lives in Tallahassee.
    While his children were growing up, McAllister held another full-time job in Dothan, “I worked there at night and here too during the day time.” In all of his years on the job, McAllister says he’s only had two owners, “Just two managers, Peacock and Barber.”
    About his days with Mr. Peacock, “There wasn’t no clocking in. You just came in at 7:00 o’clock and you worked till you get off for the same money.” McAllister said his wife was equally as loyal at her job, retiring from the school board as bus driver 35 years, returned for a bit before calling it quits for good. As far as Harry McAllister, he is pretty convinced he will be seeing his customers for many years
    to come.

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