She's enjoyed a long career at a fast-food restaurant

By Cindy Butler Focke

Correspondent

VIRGINIA BEACH

Adell Brockett politely said she could not divulge the secret spice her family uses in its fried chicken batter.

The 67-year-old Princess Anne Plaza resident has worked at the Hardee's near her home since June 1991, hired as a fried chicken cook.

"I enjoy the people I work with, and I like to cook," Brockett said.

That's an understatement, said her daughter, Jacqueline Short, who lives with her mother.

"She loves to cook," Short said, citing Brockett's seasoned collard greens and delicious black walnut cake as two of her favorites.

She said her mother's cooking expertise most likely came from growing up in North Carolina. She was the only child of a midwife and a fertilizer plant worker, and her extended family gathered regularly for some good, old-fashioned Sunday dinners.

The job market brought Brockett to the Beach after her husband of 20 years died in 1981. She eventually wound up working at the Hardee's close to home, helping prepare and cook fried chicken. Back then it was a fairly new product on the restaurant's menu and pretty popular for picnics and parties.

Hardee's now sells more than 17.3 million pieces of chicken a year, according to company spokesperson Rick Rountree.

"We were busiest in the summertime and during football games when people are sitting around in their homes," Brockett said.

Ginger Craig, a Hardee's district manager who worked with Brockett back then, says the great-grandmother takes pride in her work.

"She is so detailed and so organized. If she's going to do a job, she's going to do it correctly."

There is a right and wrong way to make fried chicken, Brockett said.

"You have to be delicate with the chicken. You can't hit it together. You have to drop it a certain way and take a certain amount of time."

For health reasons, Brockett is now part time and works in the preparation area slicing the fresh ingredients, such as lettuce, tomatoes and onions.

Co-workers look up to her, and customers love her, Craig said.

Some call her "teacher," said Brockett's boss, Jeremy Richardson.

"She's always willing to help others," he said.

"She sets a good example for our employees," Craig added. "If they don't say please or thank you, she says something to them."

Marie Goldblatt and Betty Simmons have been regular Hardee's customers for at least 10 years.

"When she comes to work for the day, she always waves," said Simmons, a Windsor Woods resident.

At first, Goldblatt didn't recognize Brockett by name.

"Oh," she said, "you mean that nice lady."

Cindy Butler Focke, butler496@aol.com