Sitting unassumingly on the corner of Sharps Chapel Road and Lakeview, No Wake Market and Grill doesn’t exactly scream for your attention. However, if you make the stop, you’ll find most everything you need for a day on the lake, a picnic in the park or a relaxing, delicious meal with friends and family in the large dining area or on the outdoor deck. The business reopened November 2017 with new owners.

If you’re really lucky, Mary Lee Edwards, or Granny as she is known by some, will have a minute to stop her work and share a piece of her family history involving the store. Edwards is the current store manager and granddaughter of Union County natives Roy and Floy Cole, the original store builder and owners.

“The original store was across the road and my grandparents built on the current site in 1950,” said Edwards. “Their son Bill picked up rocks from the fields to lay the foundation and my father, Beecher, worked here some too.”

Edwards’ father inherited seventy-seven acres in the Chapel and built a house there. Her eighty-eight year old mother still lives in the home place and is a frequent visitor to the store. Edwards also lives on the family property.

Tales of the store from days gone by have been passed down from family, but Edwards has many of her own as well. She recalls that when the first store opened there was no running water.

“I remember that the bathroom was the outhouse behind the store,” she said. “For heat there was a coal burning stove where people sat close on nail kegs swapping stories or chewing the fat.”

Edwards talked about a large tree out back where the “Ole Timers” had a game of Long 9 going and for more serious players there was a poker game in the woods.

She says the original store had gas pumps, daily grocery needs, horseshoes, ammunition, knives, overalls, shoes, kerosene, livestock feed, and frequently, bologna sandwiches. Brown sugar was sold by the pound from a barrel and at Christmas the Coles would bring in fruit to sell. Candy by the pound in brown bags was always a huge seller.

Edwards recalls Charlie Shoffner and Ed Maples hanging out at the store along with Pick Weaver and Charlotte Daniels, who were regulars and still come to visit.

“Sandy Lay stopped by every day to get a loaf of bread and two gallons of milk, always with a smile on his face,” Edwards recalls. “Sadly, a lot of the old ones have passed on. There was a time when everybody in the Chapel knew everyone else. So many people have moved in here from so many places it isn’t like that now.”

No Wake is owned currently by the Miller family out of Kentucky; Shawn, Kim, and Brothers Austin and Brendan who also work at the store. There have been a lot of changes through the years along with many upgrades. The store has expanded the dining area, including a large eat-on deck, and Edwards says there are upcoming plans to do more.

“By the summer we will have expanded the deck again and we will start bringing in local bands for evening music while you’re eating.”

While the expanded deck will take the side parking lot, there will still be plenty of parking in front and back of the store. The first band performance is scheduled for June.

Today, there is little you may need that can’t be found at No Wake. From sit-down meals with an extensive menu, to Hunt Brothers pizza and other food to go; ice, propane, snacks, drinks, tobacco, alcoholic beverages, OTC medicines and first aid supplies, a fun machine Edwards calls “Sharps Vegas” where folks can play a quarter and hope to win big, as well as many other amenities. Probably the most important offering is that No Wake sells the only gas in the Chapel. Being located close to Lakeview Marina makes gas an important commodity, and you can air up your tires there too.

Edwards says she is living the dream as manager of No Wake. Her maternal grandparents, Ebb and Belle Moore also ran a country store.

“I guess store life is my calling,” she said. “The Millers are great to work for and I’m very thankful for my raising and the good memories I have, many right here in the store. I am blessed beyond measure.”

No Wake Market and Grill hours are M-T 7 a.m.-8 p.m., F & S. to 9.p.m. and Sunday until 8 p.m. Phone number: 865-278-3834.