BURLINGTON, N.C. — There's a lot of buzz around Salvation Coffee Company in Burlington, not just because it's veteran-owned, but because of one particular veteran who spends a lot of time there.
Bob Sargent is 94-years-old and calls himself the "maitre d'" of the shop, run by his daughter and son-in-law. He splits time between here and Elon university, where he works as a maintenance man. He doesn't plan to pump the brakes any time soon.
"I tried it 3 times," Sargent says. "It didn’t work. I can’t stand doing nothing. I wake up in the morning and my feet hit the floor and they start to walking and I can’t stop them. I’m going all day long."
Maybe he gets his energy from all the coffee he drinks?
"This coffee here has got a strong coffee flavor but no bitterness like the Navy coffee," he explains. "It’d leave a taste in your mouth."
It also left a lot of memories in his mind.
"I served 3 years one month and five days in the Navy. That was between 1942 and 1946."
Right when World War II was brewing. Sargent says he served on a minesweeper ship overseas.
"We would go in before the invasions and sweep the bays and area clear of mines."
He says his proudest moment was meeting President Franklin D. Roosevelt in an escort trip to Russia.
"It just happened," he explains. "Heroes are made, not born."
Fast forward to now and he's serving his community in another way.
Being friendly, being present and being witty. They're even trying to train him to be a barista.
"He did really well on his first latte today," explains barista Liz Demoss. "I helped him with that. He pulled the shot well. He burned his hand on the steam wand but everybody does that."
Demoss says she's not related to Sargent, but he told her, like he tells a lot of people, to call him "grandpa."
"He’s got a lot of wisdom and he just does his own thing."
He's always going to drink up all life has to offer, right down to the last drop.
"I love being here," he says.