By Alec Etheredge | Staff Writer

Located in Clanton just off of Interstate 65 at exit 205, Todd’s Produce and Gifts is one of the most iconic produce stands in Alabama.

If you head down 65 to the beach during the summer months, you probably know this place well. It’s a great place for travelers to make a pit stop, stretch their legs and get some of the best peaches in the South.

Owners Hal and Dordie Hayes, who originally owned a restaurant at the location, started the stand in 1988 by buying peaches and selling them out of their truck. After about five years, they decided to plant and grow their own peach trees. They not only have peaches, but many other kinds of fruit or vegetable, several ice cream flavors and a gift shop.

“We grow all of the produce ourselves and that includes over 100 acres of peaches, which is around 120 trees,” Dordie Hayes said. “We very seldom lose any of our peaches; we sell just about all we have on our farm.”

Once the restaurant closed down they knew immediately that they wanted to build Todd’s Produce and Gifts. It started out as a shed and has since been built on to what it has become today.

“I never thought it would become this busy,” Dordie Hayes said. “This has to be one of the busiest intersections in the state. We’ve had to build on twice and I’m pretty sure we’ve built all the way to the creek behind us; there’s no more room.”

Dordie Hayes is a former schoolteacher who used to only work the peach stand during her summer breaks, but knew as soon as she retired that this is what she wanted to do.

“My favorite part about this is the people,” Dordie Hayes said. “I’m a retired teacher and this is nice because it still keeps me involved with kids and I even have a few of my former students that work with me now.”

“One of the neatest things we’ve done is send some peaches to a friend of mine’s son who was deployed in Iraq,” Dordie Hayes said. “It was the middle of summer and he wanted some peaches. It took him two weeks to receive them but they were still fresh.”

A picture still sits in the ice cream shop at Todd’s Produce with him holding up a sign that says Todd’s Produce number two.

“We think we’re unique because we grow our own stuff, while a lot of the other stands don’t,” Dordie Hayes said. “We’re smaller than a lot of the other ones around, which we like because it creates that close knit family feeling.”

The stand was named after their only son Todd when he was eight years old because they liked having a family connection. Dordie Hayes even said that she hoped one day her grandchildren would take it over.

“It’s funny because we have a lot of people from Georgia come over here,” she said. “I’ve never had a Georgia peach, but to have people from the peach state come get our peaches sure is special.”

The peaches are fresh and picked daily. They’re open seven days a week May through August from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.