By LINDA MALONE / Community Columnist

Harpersville is a small, but growing community. It’s a community where everyone, knows everyone and you can always find a helping hand when in need.

I call Harpersville, a “metropolitan small city” with great potential due to the leadership.

During the spring of the year, you can drive down U.S. 280 East, approximately 20 miles or so, and visit with all kinds of street vendors.

Some of these vendors have been at the intersection of 231 and U.S. 280 for the past 40 years.

One of those vendors is Sand Rock Rich, a local farmer. He is at this intersection every Friday, Saturday and Sunday with that same gentle smile and warm greeting.

It’s wonderful, fresh produce encourages healthy lifestyles. His selection of vegetables consists of red, ripe tomatoes, bananas, onions and squash. All of his items are reasonably priced.

Sand Rock loves what he does and the people that he meets and gets to know as friends because of their return visits. Growing vegetables is a tradition in his family. He grew up growing things. He loves to plant and see things grow, hence the many years of service that he has provided to the Harpersville community.

If you are ever traveling down U.S. 280 East, take a look to your right at the intersection of Highways 231 and 280 you will see the gentleman Sand Rock Rich with his wonderful vegetables. Stop by and visit with him. You won’t regret it.

Further down U.S. 280, you can visit with numerous vendors selling and sometimes giving away items to those in need. Another one of these delightful vendors is Larry Wood of Mini Warehouse and Storage. Wood’s family has been in business in Harpersville for more than 50 years. His mom is Treasure Wood, and his deceased father was Carl Wood. Wood currently runs the Mini Warehouse for his mother, Treasure.

On a recent Saturday, Wood was having a garage sale at the storage facility located on U.S. 280 traveling east. He was very kind in spending time talking about his family business and the love for his community. This is the kind of community where you want to raise your family.

In the coming months, I will be featuring the various city departments, the mayor’s office, police department and the people who keep our city going and who make us feel safe each and every day.

Lastly, I’d like to give a special shout out to all of the April birthday babies in Harpersville and surrounding areas. May you have many, many, many more.

Linda Malone, the community columnist for Harpersville, can be reached at Malo2211@bellsouth.net.