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STONEVILLE — Two old men recently sat on apple crates on the front porch of an old country store, reminiscing about the “good ole days” as their wives happily explored the interior of the store.

The scene seemed straight out of an old photo. But it happened a week or so ago.

The old store is part of a series of buildings restored by Guerrant and Janet Tredway at their farm on Price Road, east of Stoneville.

Aptly called Hills and Hollows Farm & Museum, the buildings include a restored cabin and an area in the barn where visitors can view old farm tools and equipment and sit down for a bite to eat.

They also can relax and eat picnic lunches on the porch overlooking the pasture where Tredway keeps his prize-winning llamas.

The atmosphere is conducive to relaxation and memories.

“We started back last spring opening it up where people could come look at the stuff,” said Tredway, noting he and his wife have been collecting relics for years to add to their own collection of farm memorabilia extending back to 1947.

That was the year his parents, Dorothy and Guerrant “Tiny” Tredway Jr., bought the farm and began raising tobacco. Later, Tiny started a dairy farm and eventually raised and sold quarter horses. Tiny died in 1980. Dorothy, 90, still lives in her home, and is now married to Evenor McBride.

“We wanted people to see things of the past and we thought this was a good way to do it,” Tredway said. “Since we opened in the spring, we have had people come from as far away as New York and Florida.

“The elderly people, especially, seem to enjoy being here and sharing memories and stories of the past,” he said.

The store once housed Guerrant’s electrical business, but in May, he and Janet decided to convert the shop into a store.

It features a counter partly made by the Tredways; other parts came from an old store in Madison. The cash register also came from that store.

Items in the store include a large spinning wheel, displays of old glass and metal containers, an old Meadow Dairy clock, as well as glass milk bottles from Meadow Dairy and other dairies in the county.

Just to the right of the store is the cabin, which once was a tenant’s home on the property. It features an old-fashioned high-back bed, highboy and dresser along with a couple of rocking chairs in the front room.

In the kitchen is an eclectic collection featuring  an old black wood-burning cook stove and a 1927 Frigidaire refrigerator.

Back outside, visitors can stop by the barn to see everything from a collection of old railroad lanterns to corn shellers, pedal-operated grinding stones, an apple cider press and all types of tools and equipment.

Children especially love an electric train engine they can ride and a railroad layout with three operating trains on it.

Of interest to most visitors are the 15 llamas, including a pair of 2-week-old crias (babies).

Tredway also takes visitors to the fiber shed to see the process from the time the fiber is cut from the llama to the finished product sold to local crafts people.

In recent weeks, Tredway has entered three llamas in the Mountain State Fair at Fletcher. Cherokee’s Gabriella, a brown and black 18-month-old, won the Reserve Grand Champion Ribbon and blue ribbons. Prince Chocolate, a brown 2-year-old, brought home a red ribbon while Maggie Tia, a year-old llama, won three fifth places.

Tredway also takes the llamas to schools, churches and other public places to show how they are used in their native South America to work as pack animals.

Ann Fish is a Reidsville native who has lived in Eden since 1979. She is a retired newspaper editor and reporter. Contact her at annsomersfish@yahoo.com