Thank You 11 Alive News

STATELY OAKS c1839

About four weeks ago we received a phone call rather early on Sunday morning. It was one of the docents at Stately Oaks wanting to know if the air conditioners were being repaired because AC parts were all over the yard. Immediately Hubby knew copper thieves had destroyed three air conditioners at the 1839 home. I heard him say, "call the police immediately."

The following day was terrible. Lots of tears and statements like, "this is the worst thing that could ever happen." Actually, it could have been must worse, because the house and other buildings on the ground were not damaged.

At the insistence of Hubby, the president of the historical society call the news media. All three local networks came out and did a story about the cooper thief and the financial hardship this would place on a non-profit organization.

As a result of the story on 11 Alive by Reporter Kevin Rowson, Cool-Ray Heating and Air stepped up to the place and donated three new air conditioners to replace the ones destroyed by the low-life thieves. Then an iron fabrication company, TMC Iron and Steel Company donated iron cages to cover the new AC units.

It was an absolute dream for the entire staff and volunteers at Stately Oaks. These people were a God send to a non-profit organization that operates on a very limited budget.

Some of the docents decided something special needed to be done for the people that made this miracle happen for Stately Oaks. So, today several of the docents and volunteers had a reception for Kevin Rowson from 11 Alive News, Britt Bagwell from Cool Ray Heating and Air and Jeff Guthrie from TMC Iron and Steel Company.

Hubby presented each of the gentlemen with plaques in appreciation for their community service and contribution to the non-profit organization. Afterwards two of the docents gave the honorees and their families a tour through Stately Oaks.

I turned around and Hubby was being interviewed by Kevin Rowson and this evening there it was, right on the evening news.

So for all of you that live in the Atlanta area if you have any heating and air conditioning needs and a need to protect your air conditioners from copper thieves or any other iron fabrication we want to recommend to you

COOL RAY HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING, Marietta, GA
TMC IRON AND STEEL COMPANY, Lawrenceville, GA

To 11 Alive News and Kevin Rowson, the people at Stately Oaks will forever be grateful for your help during a time of devastation. This is positive news at its best.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Our dear friend, Kenny, one of our adopted sons, had a birthday, Hubby and I took a bag of Chick-fil-As and Kenny furnished the southern table wine (sweet iced tea) and I made a pound cake. We headed up to the deck of his condo complex where we had dinner, commonly called supper in the south.

It was a very pleasant evening. The weather was perfect. It was fun just talking and watching all the activities at ATL, the world's busiest airport. Kenny provided a wealth of information about all the activities on the ground and the goings on at the airport since he works directing airplanes around the airport all day long.

A GREAT DAY AT THE LAKE

I thought this would be a great reminder of the warm summer days which are now history as the gray cold days are here for a while, even a bit of sleet and snow yesterday and it is only the end of November.

I picked the wrong day to stay home and clean house. Hubby and our next door neighbor caught all these fish in about an hour and one-half this morning at Lake Oconee. The lake is way down and it must have been easy to find the good fishing holes.

This is the reason I will never fish with artificial bait. Look at those fish, they are slabs. Oh yeah, they were fishing with cane poles, not fancy rods and reels.

We fished in Lake Sinclair last week with friends using artificial bait and we never got one single bite.

Happy Anniversary

Today we have been married 45 years. In a way it does seem like a long time, but yet it doesn't seem like 45 years. I would marry my sweetheart all over again.

I DON'T GET IT!

We installed this programmable thermostat 18 years ago and it STOPPED working. I don't get it. The air conditioning came on, but would not turn off. I pushed every button on that thermostat and nothing happened. The only way it turn off was to flick the switch on the electrical panel. Fortunately, it was on it's own power source, so I didn't have to cut the power to the entire house.
I put the little tabs on the wires and every thing is cool, so I thought.

Well, I couldn't find a screw driver in that huge tool box of mine. I have my own, because my husband's shop is, shall we say, less than organized, and I can't find anything when I'm looking for a specific tool, so I just created my own tool box. I finally checked my basic little tool box I keep in my sewing room. This one only has a few little tools in it, but it was exactly what I needed to get the job done, I thought. (I won this little box at an office Christmas party many years ago.)





I get the old unit off the wall and compare the new unit and it was smaller than the old unit, so one thing calls for another. I'm making another trip to Hubby's work shop for material to patch the screw holes, sand paper to smooth the paint ridges created when painting around the old unit and paint to cover the unpainted dry wall. I was able to procure all the necessary materials to get the job done, I thought. Finally, I realized sanding those paint ridges wasn't going to work, so now I'm looking for one of those things with the razor blades used to scrape paint off windows. Now, those little things work well on lots of jobs and I should have used that little first and saved a lot of time sanding and creating all that dust.

So, I get the wall preped, patched all those old holes and I apply the paint. It matched. I was so relieved. It hasn't been too terrible long ago that we painted the upstairs hall and the only can of wall paint I had actually worked. However, I had to wait until the paint dried before attaching the frame of the new unit to the wall. That's when the REAL fun began.

Can you see those wires coming out of the wall? Those very SHORT wires? Oh my goodness. It took a while to get those little color coded wires attached to the new thermostat. The old one had screws that you just twisted the wires around and tighten. The new unit had these tiny slots where you had to insert the wires and push down these very tiny little button things to secure the wires for proper contact. I'm telling you, that was HARD! I finally had to call in backup--my sweet Hubby.

A day or two later Hubby said, "you did a really good job on that new thermostat, you can't even see where the old one was."

Why I though I could change this thermostat in just a few minutes is a mystery to me. I should have know when you start a project one thing leads to another. It took three hours to get this little thermostat installed. The good thing? It works so well.

Best bargeque in Georgia

Dean's Barbeque, established 1947

Mr. Dean opened his barbeque joint in 1947. His son, Roger, kept the business going after Mr. Dean's death and Roger has recently retired, but his sons and nephews and nieces are keeping the Dean family business going. This is the heart of America.

This is one of our favorite places to eat. It looks like a hole in the wall, but... It is absolutely the very best barbeque in Georgia! Well, I think it's the best barbeque I've ever eaten.

Several years ago PBS filmed a special program on Georgia barbeque and Dean's was one of the featured establishments. You can always tell the tourists, because they are the ones with the cameras. We find that amusing.

They only serve pork barbeque, which is cooked over an open outside pit. There are only two left in the entire state of Georgia.

The small frame building with the "OPEN" sign in the window is the original structure. The pit was to the right, but open. When EPA laws kicked in they grandfathered in the establishments that had open air pits, thus allowing Mr. Dean to keep his open pit. The pit is now covered in the screened room to the right of the original building. At any given time you can see all those hams over the hot flames from the hickory wood fire.

When you enter Dean's you are always greeted with a friendly, "Hey, y'all, how are you doing today?" We are always asked, "Do you want your regular today?" As they are writing "2 sandwiches, 2 chips, Yahoo, Diet Coke. "That will be $10, please."

They do have barbeque plates available with an order of barbeque, cold slaw, pickles and a slab of white bread. Oh yes, they have homemade cake if you want dessert. Today I read the menu on the wall and I was looking at the beverages, which reads,

"Regular Tea"
"Yankee Tea"
"Mason/Dixon Tea"

I had never noticed the Mason/Dixon tea so I asked Barbara (the lady behind the counter taking an order from another regular customer) about it. She replied, "it's half sweet tea and half unsweetened tea." Mason/Dixon tea is what I order, when I drink tea, because they have really sweet tea. The pieces of cake on the counter are homemade peanut butter cake and chocolate cake. Yum.

You always see someone you know when you eat at Dean's. Everyone from lawyers, dentists, judges, vets, doctors, law enforcement officers, neighbors, pastors, teachers, local business owners, and many, many life-long residence of the area, all of which are frequent customers at Dean's. We have even encountered the owners of Chick-fil-A and their families enjoying the barbeque (you can't eat Chick-fil-A EVERY day). This is also a favorite place of NASCAR participants and fans.

Orders can be takeout, but you miss part of the experience by not eating in the dining area. This dining room was not part of the original 1947 structure, but was added in the late 1980s. Before the dining room was added there were picnic tables where you could eat under the huge oak trees, but if it was rainy or cold you ate in your car. I'm serious, in your car. The picnic tables are still there if you want to eat outside under those old oak trees.

There are only basic accoutrements on the simple tables in the dining area; napkins, hot sauce and their own homemade sauce. If you want a straw you get that at the counter when you place your order.

This is a very popular eating establishment for all the locals for miles around Jonesboro.








As you approach Dean's, this is what you see, the old buildings with the Dean's old home place in the background. This is certainly part of "modern" history for Jonesboro, GA.

Dean's Barbeque is located about a mile south of downtown Jonesboro on Highway 3. They are closed on Sunday and Monday.

HOT CHICKEN SALAD

At the request of a reader I'm posting one of my favorite recipes. I can't take credit for this, but a dear friend of my aunt's shared this with me years ago.

HOT CHICKEN SALAD

4 cups cooked chicken, diced
3 cups chopped celery
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup (undiluted)
1 cup mayonnaise
4 T lemon juice
1/2 cup slivered almonds (toasted) I like to use 1 cup almonds
2 T grated onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup green pepper chopped
4 T pimento
1 cup grated cheese
3 cups crushed potato chips

Mix all ingredients except the cheese and potato chips. Pour into 9 x 13 dish, sprayed with Pam. Bake 30 mins. at 350 degrees. Add cheese and chips, return to oven until brown. Garnish with paprika and parsley.