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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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