It’s lunchtime on Sunday afternoon, and the after-church crowd has made its way to Mayberry. Nestled right on the side of Lexington Avenue, the restaurant and ice cream parlor is filled with young families and long-time regulars alike, settling into their booths. Crossing the black and white checker pattern floors, servers move from table to table, delivering soups, salads, sandwiches, and plenty of ice cream to eager patrons, both young and old. The clink of plates, silverware, and sundae dishes accents the sound of happy conversation and laughter.
If you want the scoop on Mayberry’s history (and a scoop of vanilla ice cream while you’re at it!), you only need to ask John Hansley, manager of Mayberry High Point location. While the building that is now Mayberry in High Point has been used to sell ice cream since the 40s, it didn’t adopt its beloved Mayberry name until 1969.
“You had LinDale Dairy here in High Point in the late 40s.” explains John. “Then a group of investors got together and bought all these dairy bars and formed the name Mayberry.”
While John has been the manager here in High Point for the past 15 years, his Mayberry tenure stretches all the way back to 1975. Growing up in Winston-Salem, John grew up going to Mayberry for ice cream after church on Sundays and began working there at age 15. Since then John has worked at Mayberry locations in Winston-Salem, Raleigh, and Wilmington, and has been with the restaurant group for a majority of its history.
“It’s not boring,” says John, “Every day is a different day, a different adventure.”…