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Today the yard sale capitol of the world is Tallapoosa, Georgia. Today will be a great time to find a bargain on used lawn darts, worn out garden hoses, a faded Schlitz sign that once hung in Whitey's Tavern,  a t-shirt bought in Panama City in 1975 that say "I'm With Stupid",Sue Muse is selling an 8-track tape of Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, and an autographed picture of Roy Clark. Also for sale today will be a carburetor for a 1970 Ford Maverick,  a tricycle that has the front wheel missing, a singing Billy Bass, Kay Allen is selling her Herman's Hermits albums, Scotty McClain is letting go of his scratched 45 rpm of "The Letter" by the Box Tops, Denver Morgan is parting with his Roy Orbison "Pretty Woman" cassette. You may find a pilsner glass from Essie Mae's, or a set of warped Tupper-Ware lids. I am sure there will be lots of clothing at the Tallapoosa yard sale. Why is it that clothes that have been in the closet for a while seem to shrink a couple of sizes? My mother was one of the great yard and garage sale shoppers of all time. She was to yard sales what Colonel Sanders was to chicken. If given an unlimited American Express Card for Lenox Square in Atlanta or ten bucks to spend at a yard sale, my mother would have taken the $10 and gone and taken no prisoners. My mother's sister Leslie E'Dalgo is in town today celebrating her 92nd birthday. She grew up in Tallapoosa and lived most of her life in Miami. Her husband Fletcher E'Dalgo worked with my father at Eastern Airlines. Before working for Captain Eddie Rickenbacher at Eastern Airlines, Fletcher was a soldier in World War II and carried a slug in his leg courtesy of a German soldier. Memories of Uncle Fletcher include taking me deep sea fishing out in the Gulf Stream and hooking a marlin that got away before we could land it. He taught me how to take care of an avacado or mango tree in case we ever got one of them. He had a green thumb and was adored by his friends and neighbors for his generosity of his prize fruits and vegetables.  Uncle Fletcher was kind of kin to royalty since his first cousin was Truett Cathy, founder of Chick Fil A. Had Harlan Sanders knew as much about chicken at Truett Cathy, he might have been a general instead of a colonel. Mr. Cathy is truly one of the greatest men I know. His philanthropic efforts have made sure children had a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs through support of children's homes and students were able to get an education through his scholarships he grants to employees. Once in a radio interview with Mr. Cathy I asked him about how his bottom line would be so much bigger if he were open his stores on Sunday like his restaurant competitors. He said that he closed on Sunday to give his employees a day of rest and that when he was a boy working at his mother's rooming house in Jonesboro, he had to work seven days a week. He said everyone needs at least one day out of the week to rest. He chose Sunday for his restaurants from coast to coast. You have to admire his principles over profit philosophy. Mr. Cathy's love of his employees, customers,  family, and most of all his Lord make him a man I want to be more like. Mr. Cathy often checks on Aunt Leslie to see how she is doing. My Aunt Leslie turns 92 and she is just like my grandmother when she was that age. She is a remarkable woman who made sure I had school clothes when I was growing up. She also drives her automobile to wherever she wants to go and knows every single person in Monroe County just north of Macon. Forsyth was the former home of Tift College that Melissa Smith and Beleta Smith from my high school class attended. Aunt Leslie lives just a few miles from Juliette home of the world famous Whistle Stop Cafe. I wish I had a fried green tomato from there and a Chick Fil A sandwich right now. Aunt Leslie is also in town to be geographically close to her grandson a special day tomorrow. John Rush is being ordained as a deacon at a church just north of Atlanta. John also is the registrar at Shorter College and it was in his living room four years ago I decided to go to graduate school. John's great grandmother who was my grandmother are smiling down from above on John's ordination tomorrow. I am sure his grandfather, my Uncle Fletcher is too. Fletcher E'Dalgo was a deacon at First Baptist Church of Miami Springs for many years. When he retired from Eastern Airlines, his goal was to move back to where he grew up. He really loved his hometown of Forsyth so much. Roger Murrah's  lyric out of the Mel Tillis hit song "Southern Rain" produced by Harold Shedd of Haralson County says "when you're young you want to get away, and when your old you want to go back". Welcome back to Tallapoosa Aunt Leslie. If we have time today we'll go look for you a used set of bar-bells, some driving range golf balls or a gravy stained Dale Earnhardt t-shirt, or maybe a "Bear" Bryant wall clock that commemorates the 1979 Crimson Tide win in the Sugar Bowl over Penn State with one of the hands missing at the city wide yard sale. We'd better get there early for Coach Bryant clock that plays "Yea Alabama" every hour on the hour because Leon or Alfred Rutherford or Ray McClendon will be in a fist fight over it for sure. Ray's mother said his first words as a baby was "Roll Tide"!  Its a great day to be in our hometown.
 
 
Rhubarb Jones is a Tallapoosa native and a Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Communication and Director of Special Projects in the Office of Development at Kennesaw State University. Comments are welcome at P. O. Box 1001, Tallapoosa, GA 30176 or via email at rhubarbjones@aol.com

 

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