Rush, brother own honey farm on Appleton Road

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Connie Rush is a woman who wears many hats and she seems to handle each one very well. She is the secretary of the Southwest Alabama Beekeepers Association.

She and her brother, Tony Frazier, who just happens to be the Alabama State Veterinarian, manage their own locally made honey at Bee Sweet Honey Farm on Appleton Road.

“Tony had the bees to begin with,” she said. “He got busy and needed some help and he asked me to help. Now, I have four hives at my house and he has eight at his house. We have no trouble selling the honey. It sells itself and we have customers ready to buy it by the time we get it bottled in bottles or jars of one and two pounds.

Rush works part time as the administrative assistant at the Escambia County Habitat for Humanity. She spends three days a week helping the director of Habitat, Lisa Tindell. They are lifelong friends and get along very well together.

“Both of my children are grown now and I needed something to keep my mind active,” Rush said. She is the administrator of the Cornerstone Home School program, the school her own children attended here in Brewton.

“I am a qualified teacher and before the children were born, I taught school at Escambia County Middle School in Atmore and Brewton Middle School,” she said. “I thought I could do both and it was a great set-up. My husband traveled a lot with his job and with a little bit of arranging, we could go with him on occasion and the kids could still get their schooling. They both have traveled and seen places that have taught them many lessons in life.”

Cornerstone Community Church of God, is the church the family attends and she is very active in Praise and Worship.

For the past 15 years, Rush has also helped her husband, Dru, run his barbecue catering business, Pig Daddy’s Barbecue.

“We were still able to set aside the time needed for school,” she said. “We carried the motor home with us and while business was slow, we got in the schooling. The kids got very good lessons on economy. Both of them learned to handle and keep up with making change and taking care of money. Ir was the best of both worlds.”

Rush was born and raised in Escambia County. She attended W.S. Neal High School, graduating in 1980. She attended Jefferson Davis Community College for a couple of years and then transfered to Auburn University. She graduated from there with a degree in Biology/health education and married Dru Rush. She taught until her children, Allie and Connor, were born. Allie is now teaching and Connor is working toward becoming a youth minister.