A common interest in candles evolved into a business among close friends
It was one of those discoveries I would categorize as lovely. I walked in from the heat into the little rustic workshop, met by fragrance and smiles from modern-day candle makers proving there is life after retirement.
JarWick’s Candle Factory and Gift Shop, owned and operated by Charles and Ruby Lee Head and Charles and Gloria Anderson is off the beaten path at 3401 County Road 415 in Alvarado.
The enterprise is located on the Heads’ Rockin’ H Ranch, along with cattle, chickens, ducks and their bass-filled Lake Charles. Things move at a slower pace there: I heard a rooster crow at lunchtime.
They and the Andersons insist their business is nothing fancy, but proof is in the product.
The women were teaching together at Coleman Elementary School in Cleburne in 1998. Charles Head was elementary school principal at Cooke Elementary, and Charles Anderson was a railroad man. They all began to talk about what they might do after they retired.
“I read an article in a Fort Worth newspaper about candlemaking, and was intrigued,” Ruby Lee said. “We went to a craft show soon after that and found a lady who wanted to sell out her candle business.
