A green thumb, he filled a vegetable stand

He was also a skilled craftsman who gave his wooden creations to family members.

By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published December 23, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT For 20 years, Thurl Bond operated a good faith vegetable stand in front of his home near Lake Lindsey in Brooksville. Mr. Bond's great grandson, Jordan Payne, 18 months is on his lap. [Family photo]

BROOKSVILLE - Thurl Bond came from a different time and a different place.

He grew up in the tiny town of Coeburn, Va., where things moved slower. People in town knew each other. His family lived off the land, and pitched in when neighbors raised their barns.

"Back then, you didn't just run to the store and buy everything," said Mr. Bond's daughter, Judy Bond Arick, 50. "Most people grew everything."

Her father never really changed.

His family moved to Hernando County when Mr. Bond was 17. They settled on a 40-acre plot where most of the family still lives.

By trade, he was a site superintendent for W. Clyde Daniel Construction. But people in Brooksville knew him for his green thumb.

For 20 years, Mr. Bond operated a vegetable stand under an old oak tree in front of his home on Lake Lindsey Road. He ran his business on the honor system - people took what they needed and paid what they could - sometimes, it was an IOU scrawled on paper.

He would peer out at the stand through the window, or from the garden, or sometimes not at all. It didn't occur to him that people might steal. And they never really did.

He grew mustard greens, collards, turnips, onions, okra, corn. Later, he started a small orange grove. One year, he planted sunflowers, with green beans winding between them and up the towering stems.

The family butchered their own cows and chickens and pigs. Mr. Bond's kids remember spending hours picking green beans, breaking them by the mound in the living room, and canning them.

They worked hard, but Mr. Bond was no taskmaster. He had a huge soft spot, and wouldn't spank the kids until they had pushed his every last button.

When the old folks in the Lake Lindsey community got together to play their fiddles and guitars and banjos, Mr. Bond brought his kids to watch. But he wouldn't sing - it's where he drew the line.

He was a Primitive Baptist, and church was an intense affair. At 8 a.m. on Sundays, he loaded the kids into the back of a Cadillac. They would travel to different worship sites: Plant City, Bushnell, beyond. The sun was down by the time they got home.

Mr. Bond was a skilled woodworker. He made picnic tables and bookshelves, and gave them to family members as gifts. When they suggested he sell his projects, he balked.

"I do this because I like it," he'd say.

No matter how tight money was, he budgeted for vacations. The family went to Virginia or took beach vacations to Melbourne. They'd rent 10 rooms for the entire extended family.

He loved camping and fire fishing at night. He threw massive Easter egg hunts and Christmas dinners and birthday parties. He always had a handful of M&Ms for the grandkids, who called him Pee Paw.

His emphysema was too much for his heart to handle. He died Wednesday at age 77.

Before he died, his family bought a bag of M&Ms from the hospital vending machine so he could pass them out to all the kids.

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857.

BIOGRAPHY

Thurl Bond

Born: Aug. 9, 1930

Died: Dec. 19, 2007

Survivors: Son, Dudley Campton Bond; daughters, Judy Bond Arick, Susie Brown, Wendy Bauer; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

[Last modified December 22, 2007, 23:09:46]