01/05/2025
A long post but I think you will understand why when you read it.
MONDAY WE ARE CLOSED & WILL REOPEN AT 7a.m. TUESDAY
I know many of you have heard that I listed my baby, The Dugout, last January. This was not an overnight decision as I have prayed feverntly over the last 6 years of what the future looked like for me & my family after our life came to an abrupt hault in 2019. My plan was that I would never sell and had been approached many times by potential buyers. It was an easy no, then my spirit started changing over the last 1.5 yrs as I felt the Lord was trying to move me in a different direction. My heels were still dug in as I tried to avoid the weight of the pull to sell. 6 more months went by & The Lord said clearly to me that it was time. I tried to reason myself out of it & everything kept pointing to selling. So, I did just that. I listed it with my good friend Tammie Stout(I worked for them a couple of years once upon a time when I thought I wanted to be a realtor🤪 lol) Tammie has been incredible as she has held my hand through this & listened to all my emotions come out with all the tears & maybe I shouldn’t sell & trying to reason my way out of it. She never pressured me & was always telling me to take my time. So I listed it & put it out of my head & just said, “ God, I know when the time is right, you will bring the right buyers. Until then, I am just going to keep on keeping on like always.” Then Sept. came & he brought a serious buyer. We came to an agreement & it got real, really fast. So much emotion to deal with as we moved through each step. But I continued to trust God through it, many times with a few fits & questioning to make sure this is what I am supposed to be doing! Lake has been a rock for me & has listened to every thought, reason why & why not, tears, anger & you name it through this. I am so incredibly blessed God brought him into my life❤️
February 1st marks 20 yrs that the store will be open. We have been so fortunate to have some of the best employees out there over the years. I may not have always been employer of the year to some of them, but I try to run a tight ship. Just ask my family, I have a type A, OCD problem when it comes to anything I do & had a high expectation of how things should be when it came to serving the public! To all of our faithful, incredibly wonderful customers, you guys are truly the most amazing people! It is only because of you that we were able to serve for so many years & our paths probably wouldn’t have crossed had it not been for the store. Some of you have became really close friends, just as some of our former employees have. I truly am overwhelmed with so many thoughts and all the stories that could be told! Some really great & some not so great! I choose to remember all the great! This is the hard part, so many of my employees have became like my own family over the years. A couple of them have stayed with me. Morgan will continue in her roll at the store❤️ She is a saint to say the least!! She came into my life when she was 16 & has literally been loyally through the last 15 years with me. She likes to tell the story of how I wanted to fire her after she started😂😂 I always say, “just look at you now, you get to boss me around & tell me no!” 😂😂. But, in all seriousness, this gal that is like my own daughter, has kept me together & going. She took the bull by the horns when life changed & I couldn’t function. I really don’t have the adequate words to say how much she means to me & how much I love her & her family! She gave me 3 more grands to love! She has been my other 1/2 & we made decisions together. I continued to give her more responsibilities even though she didn’t want them🤷♀️😂. Many days she gets pushed to her wits end with the store & everything I put on her. But she handles it all like a champ. We have had a relationship like we are married😂. We will take anyone out that picks on the other, rarely we had intense disagreements where one of us might “have to sleep on the couch!”😅. But we would take a breather & know we have to hear the other person. She probably would like to choke me most days, but she refrained 🙏. She has been my counselor, store partner, friend, daughter, confidant, rock, brains of the place, calm to my storm & my my, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT I WILL DO WITHOUT HER EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR HOURS AT A TIME. I guess we will get to do fun stuff now that doesn’t pertain to work!! Selfless & loyal, that’s my girl Morgan💝 Then there is Riley, the little sister that tagged along to the store when she was 8!! So truthfully, little sister has been with me as many years as big sister!! I love her like my own & she has been just as loyal & hard working as Morgan. She & Morgan were the dynamic duo & only because of them I could have a life outside of the store( Lake is really thankful too, otherwise he would never see me) I never worried when I was gone because I knew “they had it handled!” There aren’t many people that can say that! I am forever grateful & thankful that I can! They deserve so many accolades!! Last but not least, my kids have supported my decision for this unwaveringly! Had they not been on board then I couldn’t be moving into a new season of life! I love them more than a Momma can ever relay & I am pretty sure they know that they are my pride & joy no matter what & I will still give them my unsolicited opinion & be their biggest cheerleader📣
Their dad had the vision for The Dugout & he did so many good things for others through it. Mentored many employees & had way more patience than I ever had. His mark will always remain there & can’t be taken away. A lot of blood, sweat, tears, friendships, laughter, long nights, hard days, great days & pride have gone into that place & will continue on with new owners as it will remain THE DUGOUT C-STORE ….IT’S ALL DRIVE THRU, JUST FOR YOU!
THANK YOU TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN MY LIFE THAT HAS ENCOURAGED ME,
STOOD BY ME, CRIED WITH ME & LAUGHED WITH ME!
BUT, ONLY BECAUSE OF GOD I AM STANDING! I GIVE HIM ALL THE GLORY IN MY LIFE FOR ALL THINGS! HE IS THE ONLY REASON I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO THIS BUSINESS & HE IS WHO I LOOK TO FOR THE NEXT ADVENTURE!
STANLEY & KARLA DENNEY ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SERVING YOU AS THEY CARRY ON THE TRADITIONS OF THE DUGOUT! YES, THEY ARE KEEPING IT THE SAME & I BET THEY WILL HAVE SOME AMAZING NEW THINGS TOO!!
SO WELCOME THEM WITH OPEN ARMS & I KNOW THEY WILL BE BLESSED AS MUCH AS MY FAMILY HAS BEEN…AT THE DUGOUT…OF COURSE‼️
