"You can never go wrong by treating people right" is the motto F.L. Metts, 86, has followed his entire life.

While standing outside Metts Furniture on the family-owned property near Whaley Street, Metts receives cordial greetings and waves from those who slow their vehicles to speak to this fixture who has been a vital part of the Orangeburg community for more than half a century. Starting with a grocery store and continuing with other businesses, including a small restaurant, a laundromat, a mobile home park and a body repair and welding shop, the Metts family owns all the land and businesses on the left side of Bleakley Street from the furniture store to U.S. 301.

"This neighborhood has been good to us," Metts said.

Born in February 1922 in the area known as "The Corner" in the Canaan community, Metts was the youngest of 10 children and the son of John and Mamie Metts. Growing up a mile from the Edisto River, he helped his father manage their farm.

In 1942, although his father was critically ill, Metts was drafted into the U.S. Army. As a member of the 436th Coast Artillery, he was sent to North Africa, Sicily and Italy. While on active duty in Africa, Metts fell ill with a high fever and was diagnosed with malaria. He remembers being in a tent hospital just behind the firing line. Metts has sad memories of the makeshift hospital, recalling the sick lying in cots around him as artillery fire blasted through the tent. Fortunately, he was transferred to another hospital 60 miles away from the front lines, sparing him the deadly fate of many who shared his company in that infirmary.

Upon returning to the States in 1944, Metts went home to Canaan where he remained until 1950, farming. He later moved to Orangeburg where he worked for two weeks at a local furniture store and then moved on to Hygrades. At Gregg Furniture, Metts was making 75 cents an hour and at Hygrades his pay increased to $1.25.

"I told the owner that I don't like to work for just two weeks and quit, but I'm bettering myself," Metts said. He said his boss assured him he knew his character and agreed to hold his position if the new job didn't work out.

Metts worked for two months at Hygrades, purchased a small grocery store from Guy Fickling and thus began F.L. Metts Grocery in December 1950. He and his wife, the late Adair Vogt Metts, worked side by side in the business for 26 years. They had three children, Frankie Jr., Sam and Cathy, who grew up working in the grocery store.

One of Metts' fondest memories of his days in food sales revolves around unconditional giving during Christmas holidays in the 1950s.

"I used to give my customers a big $5 sack of groceries: a 10-pound bag of rice, 5 lbs. of apples, oranges, sugar, meal and grits and a two-pound fruitcake and mixed Christmas candy," he said, recalling how he would put the groceries on the back of his pickup truck and personally deliver them to his customers.

"Sometimes folks who weren't regular customers would come to get a bag and I'd happily give them what they needed. I figured if they were hungry or needed something, it was a blessing to serve them, too," Metts said.

Hog feed came in large floral design sacks, and the family would repackage them into smaller quantities for customers and allow women to use the sacks to make clothing for their families, he said.

Metts and his wife traveled to all 50 states and to 26 countries. While traveling, the couple began collecting plates which now take up two walls in the family home.

In the years following the opening of the family's first business, Metts farmed a 200-acre piece of land in North and began managing F.L. Metts Furniture.

In 1976, he turned the grocery store over to his first son and his wife who kept the business in the family until 2001.

In 1984, Metts suffered his first heart attack.

At 86, he continues to manage the furniture store and takes care of his farm in Calhoun County, where he enjoys deer hunting. He also maintains Myers Cemetery, where his father, mother and most of his close relatives are buried.

In 1992, Metts underwent quadruple bypass surgery, and in 2005 he received a pacemaker and defibrillator. He lost his wife of 62 years in January 2007.

Metts is a member of Northside Baptist Church, where his family has been in attendance for the past 40 years.

He continues to plant a garden every year and does all his own yard work.

"He is so energetic and never seems to tire," his son, Frankie Jr., said.

Metts said he's learned over the years that "if you treat people right, you gain frie-ip."

T&D Correspondent Donna L. Holman can be reached by e-mail at ladyflyer7@msn.com.

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