Neighbors’ Black Powder, a Virden staple!

By Cindy Ladage

Donnie Neighbor’s store, Neighbors’ Black Powder is located just off Highway 4 across from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  The store carries both black powder, modern guns, ammunition and much more!

Donnie said his interest in black powder began after watching the movie Jerimiah Johnson about a mountain man.  “It came out in 1972,” Donnie said. “The mountain man time was from around the 1820’s to the 1840’s.”

“Top hats were made out of beaver skins, and the mountain man period really boomed then,” Donnie said. “It is a neat part of history. When Lewis and Clark traveled west to find their route, John Colter (who was part of the outfit) loved the west so much that he went back.  He discovered Yellowstone.”

He was the first European, the first non-native visitor to traverse the park around 1807.  The geysers and other things he discovered sounded like science fiction to the folk back in St. Louis, Donnie said. Some of the mountain men worked for fur companies, and others worked for themselves fur trapping.  It was this sense of freedom, living in the mountains, and using the spectacular black powder guns that caught Donnie’s attention.

His interest was solidified when his boy scout troop went on a ten-day hike to the Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico in 1974, where there were over 214 miles of rugged square miles to trek. “We went over Cripple Creek, and mountain men were shooting black powder guns, and I got into it.”

When asked for a description of a black powder gun, Donnie said, “You pour powder down the barrel and put a patch then a round ball and ram it down the barrel.  Then you use either a percussion cap, or flintlock to ignite it.  Modern guns use a cartridge back, and these powder guns all load from the front of the barrel.”

Donnie started attending black powder rendezvous, and club activities.  His interest in black powder guns, and the hobby grew until he and his brother Dave opened a shop in Donnie’s garage in 1979.  “Around June of 1980, that was the heyday of the black powder.  Lots of stores started selling it. There were a lot of clubs I took over the store in the mid-80’s. Between 1986 and 89, business was tough, there was too much competition.   I ran it until 1996,” Donnie said closing shop for a decade because of personal reasons.

From 1996 through 2006, Donnie kept busy with the hobby.  He attended mountain man rendezvous and sold items out of his home. Donnie remarried in 2001 after meeting his wife June who worked as a loan processor before eventually retiring. Together the two have seven children, Donnie has five, and June two.  They keep busy with their 15 grandchildren!

In 2006, he opened his shop at his current location.  First, he opened just one section, and he and his wife June opened the shop only on weekends because he was working full-time.  Over the years, Donnie worked at the coalmine, the Virden Recorder, and wound up his career in a job he loved as the Transportation Supervisor for the Virden Schools. “I was born and raised in Virden, and loved everything about North Mac,” Donnie said.

Don retired in 2013 and opened the store six days a week.  He and June operate the store which is open from noon to four Monday – Saturday. Over the years the shop has expanded.  “When I first opened, I had a little Quonset hut then business picked up and I added on, then ran out of room again and added on the back room.”

“I always salvaged metal since the early 2000’s, that’s how I built my storefront,” he shared about the western front that brings people pulling over for photo ops.

Don said he had some help building his store and storefront but did most of the work himself. When a friend tore down a garage, the wood went to good use as well as the salvaged metal. He designed the western town, and the storefront includes a general store, saloon, hotel, bank, cemetery, church, and more.  He calls his western storefront Neighborville and added, “Two people, two horses and four dogs live here.”

In the back room one wall is dedicated to fun things Donnie has collected over the years like his grandpa’s old stove, historic pictures, and a cannon that he is building. There are also some fun bigfoot memorabilia as well.

“We specialize in black powder,” Don said about the store.  “We supply other stores and clubs.  Much of the competition has faded away.  My brother-in-law, who has passed away helped me get into modern guns and ammo, and we sell a lot of it.”

“We do a good business,” he said adding the requirements to run a gun shop are strict.   “You must have both state and federal permits, and insurance gets harder all the time, ‘but things have been good. 2023 was our best year Illinois added a deer hunting season hunting with a modern rifle, and we have had a lot of good service from that.”

Things were busy even in 2020 when COVID came.  “It boosted our business.  We were deemed an essential business.  Word of mouth is the best and worst advertising, and word got around, we sold out of most everything during COVID.”

At Neighbors’ Black Powder they draw customers from about a 90-mile radius. One of the reasons Donnie said they have such good business, and loyal customers is that they service their guns unlike a lot of the big box stores. “We have a gunsmith that works on our modern guns, and we service the guns we sell.  We pay to have it shipped if it must go back to the manufacturer.”

Besides guns, they have supplies for guns like cases, leather bags and more.  He also has a few bows, and tomahawks which has become popular with the axe throwing sports.  They have also added other fun items as well like canned items by Kathy’s Kitchen as well as baked goods like cinnamon rolls, pies, and breads that Donnie and June pick up on runs to Yoders located in Arthur Illinois’s Amish community. “We sell out fast,” he said about his Amish baked goods.  The best way to find out when they are on hand is to check out his Facebook page.

He sells tons of Amish items around Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter and his annual festival. His festival which he started in 2021 is called Indian Summer Street Festival.  This one-day pioneer festival brings in around 500 visitors to the street in front of Neighbors’ Black Powder where they close off the street, serve ham and beans and bring vendors to town. “A lot of the proceeds go to the Scouts and the American Legion,” Don said which also serves food during the festival.

This year it is tentatively scheduled for September 28th. “This will be my 4th year.”

Donnie has been an integral part of the Virden Community, not only through his festival, but he has also served on the city council and as mayor.  He is still active with the Boy Scouts that started it all.

“I love my store,” Donnie said.  “When you retire, you do all the things in the first six months, then you need something to do.  The store gives me structure, I like being open in the afternoon, that is my busiest time.”

Donnie is anticipating big business for all the towns along Route 66 in 2026 when they celebrate their 100th anniversary. He even has Route 66 T-shirts available and plans to offer more souvenirs.  He gets Route 66 visitors stopping and recently had a couple stop by the store from Holland. Creativity is born in the black powder hobby Donnie said.  He has learned to sew leather and has created a few one-of-a-kind items for himself and June.  He made her a vest, dress, moccasins, and himself a leather outfit and a beautifully crafted leather coat.  He said at the rendezvous they will sit in the tepee they use for camping and sew.

Donnie wrapped his interview with a wonderful quote, “What started as a dream is now a store.”

Stop in and see the reality of Donnie’s love of black powder, guns and more and see if there isn’t something you need to fulfil your dream as well. Neighbors’ Black Powder is on Facebook, and Donnie can be reached at 217-801-4838.