By: Eden Hodges
Theo "Skip" Lanier stands out in the beating sun, waiting for people to stop by and buy his fresh watermelons. After having sold produce and hot boiled peanuts on the side of the highway for 52 years, the Statesboro native became known as "The Greenman"  The Greenman's brother, Lawrence Lanier smokes a cigarette under the shade of an old, sun-bleached umbrella waiting for 6 o'clock to close another 12-hour day on the corner. The brothers are the only two members of the family still selling peanuts and produce.  Lanier tosses around watermelons in the back of his old pickup truck until he finds one that's perfectly ripe. After 52 years in the business, he can tell you exactly the right way to pick a good melon, and it doesn't involve slapping the outside.  |
Lanier runs his hand over the yellow under-belly of a watermelon that had a long time to sit in the sun and get sweeter. Only one side can be yellow; however, a watermelon that's yellow on all sides didn't get enough sun to be any good, he said.
Using his second trick, he finds a melon with stripes that are two finger-widths apart which he says is the perfect melon. He and his brother had already busted open a few of the fruits to snack on throughout the day.
One man lifts 20 pounds of watermelon out of the back of the pickup truck, after eyeing and smacking a few other contenders for his purchase. Every customer had their own method of telling the ripe ones.
The Greenman greets his customers with smiles and rhymes he makes up about what he's selling. "I got bright, red watermelon," said Lanier. "The hotter it gets, the better I sell 'em. They’re straight from the vine. They’re red to the rind! All that, real sweet. I’m not lyin."
Lanier shows his customer around the store while they talk and catch up. Opening every day except Sunday, he's become well known in the community, being featured in local magazines, papers, FOX28 news and even Ripley's Believe it or Not for how far he can shoot a slingshot.
The brothers dish out a few bags of hot boiled peanuts for a customer. The Greenman boasts "melt in your mouth, not in your hand" boiled peanuts fresh out of the pot which they keep hot with a few propane tanks.
The Greenman pours the boiling-hot peanuts into a tin pot to cool before bagging. During his time in between customers, he makes up catchphrases and rhymes to keep himself entertained.
He pulls another pan of peanuts up from the water to drain. "Today must be your lucky day 'cause the Greenman done come your way," he said. "So why do you do me like you do-do-do, with all these goodies I keep bringing to you? I don't know how long it's gonna last. You don’t buy no peanuts, I cannot buy no gas."
Lanier greets customers as they step out of their cars, using some of his rhyming catch phrases and sayings to make them laugh. "Hey now, what y'all gonna do?" he shouted. "Man, if I was you, I'd buy me a thing or two."
Lanier walks around with his cane, tending to his produce. He made it clear that he is no farmer, just a salesman who only buys and sells the produce.
After every customer leaves and the block is empty once again, Lanier retreats back to the shade of his green pick up truck. The Greenman runs his stores on various corners in Statesboro but does good business staying at the corner of North Main St. and Northside Drive
