Cookie Crumbs Along the Trail

At a Glance

Who: June Curry, "The Cookie Lady"
What: Adventure Cycling Association's Trail Angel Award given her name
Why: Over 30 years of service to bicyclists from around the world
E-book: http://majka.us/cookielady/default.htm


For 53 years June Curry, a self-described "plain old country girl", lived by the side of the road on Afton Mountain. She never did anything to gain recognition, never went anywhere she wasn't taken, until the day a lone cyclist asked for a drink of water.

That one act of goodwill ultimately lead to cycling-world recognition when Adventure Cycling Association honored the Afton, Virgina resident who has become known to bikers as "The Cookie Lady."

In 2003, their Trail Angel Award, which honors a person or group for an act of goodwill toward a cyclist, was named The June Curry Trail Angel Award.

It all began in the humid heat of a Virginia afternoon as a lone cyclist pedaled hard to reach the top of Afton Mountain. His map indicated there was a grocery store in the town, and he needed to find it.

When he saw an old man in a garage by the side of the road, he stopped to ask for a drink of water.

He was told, "Sure, hook up the hose and help yourself!"

That's how June Curry and her family learned that when planning a biking celebration of America's 200th birthday, one group had plotted its course through Virginia, up the steep grade of Afton Mountain, with a stop at the Afton grocery store.

"If they had asked us or if we had known what they were doing, we could have told them that store had closed!"

By mid July, as more and more tired, thirsty bicyclists stopped to ask for water, June's uncle suggested that a sign be put up to tell bikers cold water was available.

"It was just a hose draped over an old piece of scrap wood with the words, "WATER FOR BIKERS' painted on it, but they knew they were welcome."

Nearly 1000 bicyclists stopped that year, and June, who says she doesn't like to cook, started baking cookies, making lemonade and later entire meals for them.

Then 55 years old, June still lived up the hill from her uncle's house where she was born on February 8, 1921.

"I always wanted to travel, but never did," she says--almost wistfully. (During her brief marriage, she'd only been to Illinois and Vallejo, California.)

She never learned to drive or ride a bike, either.

However, through the postcards sent to her from bikers she hosted over the years, she has been around the world.

"The cards are hung on ribbons all over the house." she says. "It's nothing fancy--just memories."

When her uncle died in 1977, he left his house to his brother who honored him by making it The Bike House, a hostel for the bikers he enjoyed so much. It includes a stocked pantry, a cold-water shower, couches with plenty of bedding--and rules: No drinking allowed ever, and smoking only outside.

In 1990 the bikers learned of the death of June's father and established a memorial fund in his name, which still provides part of the money that helps keep the hostel operating.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it alone," she says.

When June was 79, Mary Alissa Wilson, a rural neighbor who had heard of her, blogged: "Sometimes the very best adventures are those in your own neighborhood. ...I'd heard of the Cookie Lady, but never took her seriously enough."

An injured biker with a sore need needed a ride up Afton Mountain and they met his group at June's house.

"[She was] amazing. The Cookie Lady is delightful, full of energy, happy to chat... Her hospitality was an inspiration. We need more people like her."

After 33 years and serving over 40,000 cyclists (some have estimated), June still lives in the house by the side of the road, befriending those who ride the Trans-America and other bike trails that take them up -- and down -- Afton Mountain.

When Beverly Haven, June's cousin's wife, met her a few years ago, she listened to the stories as June told them and heard some of them firsthand from bikers who stopped to visit.

"She had so many stories, I knew they had to be saved," Beverly said.

"You need to write a book!"

"I can't write," June responded, "but I can talk. So you write, and I will tell you the stories."

The stories were compiled in the book "The Cookie Lady of Afton, Virginia" and was made available online so everyone could have access and remember.

And they do remember.

Some still write or call her. Others blog about her, recalling the food, the conversations and most of all -- the cookies. Since she has had a stroke, there are times now when she says she has had to tell some of them that she cannot remember their visit (sometimes over 20 years ago).

She laughs about it as she says, "I don't remember what I did yesterday, but I do remember the stories, and maybe that's because I want to."

June Curry never asked for "a house by the side of the road" but it's what she was given. Without ever intending to, she has lived the words of the poem, and bicyclists have dropped crumbs from her cookies all along the tail.

NOTE:
Pictures from the book "The Cookie Lady of Afton, Virginia", are used with the author's written permission.

1. June Curry
2. The houses and garage on the side of Afton Mountain.
3. June with her postcards from around the world.