Serving Greater Bluffton Since 1987

The Bluffton Eccentric was the first and only newspaper the town of Bluffton has had in fifty years. We felt such a kinship with them that we asked Graham Bullock, publisher of The Bluffton Eccentric, if we could resurrect articles from previous issues and republish them. Graham graciously gave his permission and loaned us volumes of old papers. It has been a treat for me to read them and it is with great honor that I get to share them with everyone again. So, kick back, relax and get ready for a blast from the past.

Nonie Colonna

By Betsy Thayer, March 1988

onie Colonna retired Saturday, attributing her business success “to the community’s support, to which I will always be thankful.” But, Blufftonians know that it was Nonie who contributed her support to almost every fund raising event that has been sponsored in Bluffton for almost 30 years. This energetic, soft spoken lady has always made time in her life for other people.
     For 4 years in the middle 50’s, Nonie was a nursing companion for an 80 year old woman in Estill. Home for a visit, she was shopping at Palmer’s Planter’s Mercantile on Calhoun Street, when a man came in to use the only public phone in town. Sam Colonna owned a small trucking company in Virginia that hauled produce from the south to northern markets. On this particular day, Sam was driving one of his seven trucks to the Van Duym farm in Pritchardville.
     The Van Duym’s, originally from Holland, leased the Hodge property. Our low country soil and climate was perfect for growing beautiful daffodils, iris, gladiola and tulips. The flower company had the biggest industry and the largest payroll in the Bluffton area.
  It was love at first sight for Nonie and Sam. Nonie remembers, (If you knew Sam, you loved him. He was that kind of man.” The couple courted during his trips north and south, and were soon married. Sam liked Bluffton, and tired of being on the road so much sold his business and leased the building on the corner of Calhoun and Bridge Streets. This building became Nonie and Sam’s first grocery store and filling station.
     When Shell Oil decided to put in a filling station on Highway 46, Sam became the manager and moved their grocery store into the larger building. “I hired George Scott to run the meat department,” Nonie said, “and he still cuts the best meats of anybody around. In 1966 we built the spirit store, which Rolland Smith ran for a while.” While the whole establishment echoes of bygone Bluffton history, it is the front doors which are of a particular interest. “The front doors are special. They came from the tavern at the Desoto Hilton when it was torn down. That nightspot had once been the place to go in Savannah and popular with high society. We figured, if the doors were good enough for them, they would be even better for Bluffton’s elite. In a few years, George leased the grocery store from us and later built Scott’s Meats. Sam and I ran Colonna’s Spirit House.”
     One of Nonie’s sisters explained, “It was more than a store, it was the center of community activity, where people, could advertise anything for sale or keep in touch with local events. Many dropped in, not to buy anything, but just to catch up on what was happening in town.”
     Three years ago, Sam passed at the age of 78. Nonie continued to run the Spirit House until she sold it, last month, to the Wyman family from Estill. “Their grandparents started coming to Bluffton during the summers, and this has always been the Wyman’s second home,” Nonie said. “The whole family has always loved Bluffton and supported it.” (The Wyman’s bought the large tract of land adjacent to the Spirit House and have plans for a shopping center.)
     When asked about her future plans, Nonie’s eyes twinkled. “I’ve worked all my life and never had time to do the things I’ve wanted to. The first thing I’m going to do is get my ears pierced. Then I’m going to travel some, visit my grandchildren, Disney World, Epcot, and go to the sandbar more often this summer.
     We may miss stopping by to chat with the lady who sat in the lawn chair outside Colonna’s Spirit House, but I have the feeling we’ll continue to see Nonie often. She’s the kind of person who doesn’t know the meaning of the word retirement.