In good spirits

It was the early 1970s, in Holland. Erwin Bohmfalk, a DuPont research chemist working there, became fascinated with the food and wine. In particular, the Dutch and other European cheeses caught his attention, along with wines from all over the continent: France, Italy, Germany and Spain.

Bohmfalk, now 85, couldn’t find much of a selection when he returned to Waynesboro, so he filled the void himself. Some like-minded friends, calling themselves Les Amis de Vin met at the old General Wayne Hotel.

“This group grew and grew,” Bohmfalk said. “There were a whole lot of us.”

Meanwhile, Bohmfalk became a process supervisor at DuPont and had a dream for his retirement.

“I always thought I’d like to have a wine and cheese shop in Waynesboro,” he said. “Nothing fancy, just a place where people could sample cheeses and other imported and gourmet foods, and buy good wine. Remember, you couldn’t find this kind of thing in the supermarkets then.”

His chance came when he took early retirement from DuPont in 1978. He had his eye on an old dry cleaning plant on Broad Street, a “One-Hour Martinizing” operation that came up for sale.

A massive renovation began, and The Purple Foot, so-named because of the foot power involved in the ancient grape-crushing process, opened May 20, 1978; appropriately christened by Waynesboro’s “First Lady,” Betty Hausrath, wife of Mayor Louis Hausrath, and City Councilman Harley Toomey.

The Purple Foot, at first, was a retail shop, manned by a staff of five; all members of the wine club. A year later, the restaurant opened, offering deli-type sandwiches and cheesecake, mostly to draw people into the shop, Bohmfalk said.

“Of course, I didn’t have any experience with this,” Bohmfalk said, “so we went slowly.”

He did have a focus: simple, delicious food that didn’t require a lot of restaurant equipment. Where the smell of steam, hot irons and cleaning fluid once filled the air, there’s a subtle fragrance of coffee, melting cheese and warm bread.

“When people come in here, they always comment that it smells so good,” Bohmfalk said. “That’s because we don’t fry anything here, so there’s no smell of old grease.”

The menu focuses on sandwiches, salads and the specialty quiches.

The lunch business bustled.

“Remember, we didn’t have all those chain restaurants out by Wal-Mart then,” Bohmfalk said. “If someone came in here, we wanted to make sure they came back again.”

At times, the small restaurant became crowded, so Bohmfalk built the courtyard.

“I thought it would be a place to put the overflow from the restaurant,” he said. “Instead, people choose to sit there first and the restaurant holds the overflow, at least in good weather.”

At that time, The Purple Foot was the only restaurant in Waynesboro offering outdoor dining.

The courtyard was responsible in an indirect way for another of Bohmfalk’s great retirement interests.

“Evidently, a mother opossum was killed or somehow lost her babies,” Bohmfalk said. “I kept finding babies out there and started bringing them to the Wildlife Center.” That’s how he met Ed Clark, director of the Center.

“There were a bunch of them, so Erwin was coming to the center every single day for a week or so,” Clark said. “That got him pretty well hooked.” Bohmfalk joined the Wildlife Center’s board of directors and, eventually, became board chairman, a position he’s held for more than a decade.

Bohmfalk’s love of wildlife is a natural extension of another great passion, he said. Although he’s traveled all over the world, he’s always had a special love of the polar regions.

“That’s where nature is most fragile, where man has less of an everyday impact and where you can spot environmental damage first: polar regions and deserts, where life is at the edge.”

Bohmfalk, whom Clark calls “a world-class photographer” photographs wildlife wherever he goes. These days, he’s found a second home in South Africa, where he leads safari groups for the Wildlife Center. His interest centers around the Chazen Reserve and he’s become a familiar figure at the enclave of the Viljoen family, owners of the reserve. He’s working on a book about the birds of the Vredefort Dome, documenting with photos the 200 plus species of birds at Chazen and the surrounding area. His devotion to the preservation of the area and his sincere interest in the wildlife have created strong ties with the family.
“The sons of the Viljoen family call him ‘Grandpa,’ ” Clark said.

The Vredefort Dome is important and unique for a number of reasons. It’s a crater made by a meteor 200 million years ago.

“The crater left when the meteor struck the surface of the Earth caused the Earth’s surface and molten core to ‘splash,’ creating a low mountain range of solid rock,” Clark said. “The area has been designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations and a new visitor center is being constructed at the edge of the dome. The area has a very unique micro-climate and habitat.”

Bohmfalk said an excellent staff – some who have been with him for longer than 15 years – enables him to leave The Purple Foot for weeks at a time. When the restaurant turns 31 this week, he’ll be at the Dome, on the trail of the lilac breasted roller and other beautiful South African birds. Before he left, he tried to put into words why he plans to continue his travels.

First, there’s his fascination with wildlife. He’s also found a perspective on mankind.

“It’s easy for us to make enemies of the world’s people, for whatever political reasons,” he said. “But when you travel and meet the real people, you find they’re very welcoming, very sweet.”