By Emily Williams
Mountain Brook city officials and Piggly Wiggly Crestline staff and supporters gathered Aug. 5 to celebrate one of the store’s longest-running employees, Arrelia Callins.
Callins is honoree for the Maranathan Academy’s Focused & Fabulous 2020 Scholarship Luncheon and Fashion Show, being held virtually Aug. 20 at 11:30 a.m. The luncheon raises funds to support the academy’s scholarship program and its mission to provide quality education to critically at-risk youth in Birmingham.
Academy officials dubbed Callins an icon of Southern hospitality through her work and interactions with the community as a cashier at the Piggly Wiggly.
The honor prompted an official proclamation from the city, read by Mayor Stewart Welch, celebrating her contributions to the community.
In response, Callins said she, “feels truly blessed – so, so blessed.”
The city’s proclamation stated that Maranathan Academy identifies Callins as “the living embodiment of all of the character traits that Maranathan strives to instill in its students: faith in God, determination to build integrity, love of mankind, a strong work ethic and the ability to treat all people kindly and with respect.
Throughout her 35 years working at the Piggly Wiggly, Welch said, Callins has “built relationships with generations of shoppers through all walks of life and throughout the Mountain Brook community.
“A treasure known to be true for all who hold it, her friendship is everlasting and has made the Mountain Brook community a better place because she has been among us,” Welch said. “Miss Arrelia is loved by all of us and we know she gives us love in return.”
Guests in attendance, including Piggly Wiggly Crestline co-owners Andy Virciglio and his father Stanley Virciglio, reminisced about her history at the store.
Andy Virciglio noted that, at some point in the early 1970s, Callins became one of the first black cashiers at what was then a Winn-Dixie. Stanley Virciglio said he tried to entice her to join the staff at the Piggly Wiggly a few times, but she remained at the Winn-Dixie until it closed.
“I told her, ‘If you want another job, you come let me know.’ Because I tried to hire her and she wouldn’t come,” he said. But a few years later, she asked him if that job was still available.
“It’s the best hire we have ever made,” he said.
