1954 Picture Postcard mailed to Decatur, GA.

Paradise Point-Crystal River, Fla.

5th Earl Market

Click on photo for menu.

309 East College Avenue
Decatur, Georgia 30030
p: 404-377-5477

REMEMBERING PAUL NEWMAN -- 1925-2008

Greene's Fine Foods - Nuts- Candy - Gifts & Fun to open the first of October

This is what everyone knows as the Old Post Office Building.

The Decatur Bulldogs lose to The Buford Wolves 31-0

Decatur lost for the 2nd time in their new stadium, this time to The Buford Wolves 31-0

FunTown Friday Entertainment Presents Video No. 18 - Austin Powers

Downtown Decatur circa 1972

This photo is circa 1972 just as Marta was about to built the Decatur Station.

BOBBY DARIN - Simple Song of Freedom

Decatur Bulldogs vs Buford Wolves Friday Night.

The Decatur Bulldogs play the Buford Wolves Friday night in Decatur High Stadium.
If you did not make last weeks game, go to this one and check out the New Decatur High Stadium.
You will love it.

GO DECATUR !

Click on Bulldog for schedule

Decatur Garden Tour Highlights Vegetables

Growing your own salad popular in this year’s Decatur backyards

By KATIE LESLIE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Photo: Kristin Allin spreads soil on a freshly planted red and purple carrots in her family’s garden Tuesday morning in Decatur. The Allin’s garden is one of the gardens featured in the Decatur Garden Tour.
Photo by: Jason Getz/jgetz@ajc.com


If the properties featured in this year’s Decatur Garden Tour are any indication, vegetables may be the new must-have for at-home gardening.

Take, for instance, Billy and Kristin Allin’s home on Superior Avenue.
At first glance, their backyard seems a well-groomed ornamental shade garden featuring a discreet koi pond, but walk several yards deeper into their lot and find a spacious vegetable garden filled with rows of tomatoes, okra, beets, carrots and more.

The owners of Cakes & Ale in downtown Decatur began growing at home with the intention to help supply fresh organic produce to their restaurant.

“It’s the freshness,” Kristin Allin says. “We can pick it and serve it the same day.”

Next door neighbors Lauren and Joey Burby grow vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage and peppers on a much smaller scale. Lauren, who says she typically grows herbs, decided to experiment with vegetables in two raised beds and containers this year after watching her neighbors’ garden flourish.

“I thought, if I can make a salad out of my backyard, that’s a great thing,” she says.

The best part, she adds, is that her 4-year-old son Conor enjoys lending a hand.

“He thinks the 4-by-4[-foot] bed is all his. Thankfully, that’s the one that is flourishing.”

Organizer Ruby Bock of Woodlands Garden, one of the public gardens on the circuit, said this year’s Decatur tour teaches that one need not be a serious gardener to grow at home. Most of the gardens are managed by working professionals who till their soil in their spare time.

“I kind of like that, because it’s not so intimidating,” she says.

Still, those seeking the wow factor should visit the garden of famed designer Ryan Gainey, who will lead walk through his landscape Saturday morning. Landscapers Jeff Hayden and Susan Devine’s home on Oak Lane is also among the tour’s more elaborate gardens. Their landscape features an impressive Japanese Maple collection and rock pond and waterfall the industrious duo built from reclaimed granite stone, as well retainer walls composed of stone from the former DeKalb landmark Scottdale Mills.

EVENT

20th annual Decatur Garden Tour: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $25. Special events include plant sales, children’s activities, lectures, raffle and evening tours with wine and music. For event schedule and ticket locations, visit www.decaturgardentour.com.

Wordsmiths Books named “Best Place for Author Readings/Signings” in both critics and readers polls for 2008.

Wordsmiths Books, in Decatur, GA, is thrilled to announce that Georgia-focused news and lifestyle publication Creative Loafing has named them “Best Place for Author Readings/Signings” in both critics and readers polls for 2008.



Since opening its doors in June of 2007, Wordsmiths Books has presented a vast number of author events and programs on a variety of topics, subjects, and genres, from New York Times-bestselling thriller author Stuart Woods to hip-hop style icon Fonzworth Bentley, as well as a rare poetry-reading appearance by folk-singer/activist icon Ani Difranco. Wordsmiths also has shown strong support to local authors and personalities, building programs and events around appearances by Karin Gillespie, Julie L Cannon and Patricia Sprinkle, the first public post-Top Chef appearance Richard Blais and a launch party celebrating the first book released by Sandy Springs-based fantasy and science-fiction publisher Mercury Retrograde Press, amongst many others, as well as hosting a recurring poetry showcase curated by Poetry Atlanta. Wordsmiths has also become notable for pairing live music with author readings, and for co-initiating one of the first recurrent “reading series” in the Atlanta literary community with book blog BabyGotBooks.



Given Wordsmiths focus on and time & attention paid to in-store events, the praise of “Best Place For Author Readings/Signings” in both critics and readers polls for 2008 comes as welcome and high praise from Creative Loafing. With a circulation of 112,000, Creative Loafing Atlanta is an alternative newsweekly nationally known for our coverage of news, culture, contemporary music and the arts. “The amount of time and attention spent here on in-store event programming, making sure that there's a balance of genres, demographics, etc, trying to combine things people have done since the dawning of time (I am pretty sure that there are paleontologists who have evidence of raptors running around signing copies of books for their T-Rex fans) with some forward-thinking, cutting-edge stuff is quite a hefty chunk of time”, Wordsmiths Marketing and Publicity Director Russ Marshalek writes in their store blog. “The fact that we nailed both the critics AND write-in votes means something.”



Forthcoming author events at Wordsmiths Books include environmentalist writer Greg Melville, debuting his book Greasy Rider at the store on October 7th at 7:30 P.M., local poet Collin Kelley appearing with Cecilia Woloch on October 11 at 2 P.M., and Flannery O’Connor prize-winners Andrew Porter and Peter Selgin on October 17th at 7:30 P.M. Further ahead, Wordsmiths will be announcing an event co-sponsored with Atlanta-based music and culture magazine PASTE featuring Americana-chronicler Amanda Petrusich, author of “It Still Moves” for November.




Wordsmiths Books, in Decatur, GA, is located on the Square in Decatur.

WHIT'S END... Picked as Best Hip Men's Clothing Store

Creative Loafing's Best of Atlanta 2008 is out and The readers picked Decatur's Whit's End... Store as Best Hip Men's Clothing Store.

"CONGRATULATIONS TO WHIT'S END..."

Readers' Pick
Best Hip Men's Clothing Store: Whit's End
431 W. Ponce de Leon Ave.

404-377-3310

Low Country Boil - Oct. 23, 2008 at The Solarium

Decatur Low Country Boil • Oct. 23, 2008
Great Food

Executive Chefs Michael Condon of Badda Bing, Ray Allen of New Orleans and Brittany Keith of Voilà Market Café along with celebrity chefs Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd, former Decatur Mayors Elizabeth Wilson and Walt Drake, will be cooking for the crowd. Sous chefs Jon Abercrombie, Bill Markert and Frank Coughlin round out the kitchen roster.
Click on logo for more information

For immediate information, please contact
Sherri Breunig, Executive Director
The Decatur Education Foundation
404.370.4400 x28
sbreunig@csdecatur.org

Great Music

The entertainment lineup features Atlanta's favorite Cajun/Zydeco band, Hair of the Dog.

Great Cause

Decatur Education FoundationProceeds from this event benefit the Decatur Education Foundation. Your sponsorship and silent auction donations are welcomed.

For seven years, the Decatur Education Foundation has worked hard to give Decatur's students and teachers added support they would not have received from any other source. The Low Country Boil, now a primary fundraising event for the Decatur Education Foundation, started as a small, invitation-only party and has consistently grown in attendance over the past five years.

A few examples of DEF’s impact in its first seven years:

*

$150,000 in mini-grants to support innovative teaching and 150 professional development scholarships for teachers
*

Nearly 19,000 new books purchased for economically disadvantaged students in pre-K through 5th grade
*

600 scholarships for students attending summer school, summer camps and after-school academic support
*

$32,000 in annual college scholarships for Decatur High seniors

Mark your calendar now for October 23, 2008 for an evening of great food, live music, and festivities – all for a great cause. You won't want to miss this!

BYE BYE BIRDI'S ..... SEPT 26th

The party is over but you can sill be there on Sept 26th to wish them well.

BiRDi's last day of operation is sept. 26, 2008

DEPEAUX in Decatur, GA.

Restaurant built in The Old Train Depot.

Pieces Of My Heart by Robert Wagner (NEW BOOK)

I'm probably the Biggest fan of Robert Wagner, so I will be buying this book.

SMILE

Have you tried out the ZIPCARS yet. ?

Sharing gets you wheels by the hour
By JAMIE GUMBRECHT
Cox News Service
Monday, September 22, 2008

ATLANTA — Jim Hackler, a nature-loving high-rise dweller with a streak of hippie behind his Ray-Bans, had to get to the DeKalb Farmers Market in Decatur, Ga., one day this month. But he didn't attempt to bike the eight miles through traffic, to haul shrimp and wine on the bus and train, or to find a friend with an open schedule and a need for freshly ground peanut butter.

Instead, he hopped into a car, a Toyota Prius parked a few blocks away from his condo, hit the market and a few other errands, then parked it and headed home.

But Hackler doesn't own a car; he shares the ones he drives with a few hundred-thousand other drivers. The Prius he used belongs to Zipcar, an international car-sharing company whose members literally pay as they go.

It's not exactly a replacement for a car, and it's not a rental car, users say. In the Atlanta area, it's one of several short-term shared cars parked near subway train stations, Atlantic Station's Ikea store, city office towers and universities. The greatest concentrations of cars in Atlanta are around Georgia Tech and Emory University. One lone car is located outside the Perimeter, a Honda Civic Hybrid parked in Sandy Springs.

Hackler and other users don't pay for gas or insurance — just a membership fee and the hourly rate for the time he's in it. He never worries if there's a ding in the door or mud on the paint — someone else will fix it. And he likes the logo the cars sport, that knowing nod he gets from other drivers, the questions people ask him in parking lots.

"I really enjoy not owning a car," said Hackler, a 47-year-old journalist and son of a former General Motors executive. "This was a very elegant solution. You can only fit so many groceries on the back of a bike."

Atlantans have been car sharing for two years this month. It started here with Flexcar, a Seattle-based car-sharing company that merged with Cambridge, Mass.-based Zipcar last year. These days, 70 cars — Honda Civics and Elements, Toyota Priuses and Matrixes, convertible Mini Coopers, pickups and a minivan —are parked at 50 locations in the city, and the car-sharing business is booming.

Zipcar representatives wouldn't say how many Atlanta members it has, but the company reports its national membership is on pace to grow to more than 300,000 this year — an 80 percent increase over 2007. High gas prices, increased intown development and greater environmental awareness all contribute to its expansion.

Still, Zipcar doesn't expect to make a profit until 2009. A few hundred thousand users is a small chunk of the two million people ages 21 and older that the University of California, Berkeley's Transportation Sustainability Research Center estimated are in the car-sharing market. And that was way back in 2005, before gas hit $4 per gallon. Of the 35 car-sharing services that opened in the United States since 1997, 15 have closed. The biggest reason: funding deficits and staffing needs, said Susan Shaheen, the research director at the Transportation Sustainability Research Center.

And for all of car sharing's money-saving, community-building, green-living qualities, it's tough for people to give up quick access to their own cars.

Can it possibly work in Atlanta, a place that's a punch line to every traffic joke?

"The cars are going to be here because we want them to be," said Adele Clements, Emory University's director of transportation. "I think it's working for Emory."

Clements says car sharing survives in Atlanta because of commuters. Emory plans to have 25 percent of its faculty and staff using bikes, vanpools and public transportation by 2015. Those commuters get access to reduced-rate car sharing for daytime doctor's appointments, off-site meetings or sick-kid-in-the-principal's-office emergencies.

And once some drivers start sharing, they never go back to their car payment and gas-pump pain. A Zipcar survey showed that 28 percent of car owners got rid of a vehicle after they started car sharing, and 62 percent said they delayed or halted a car purchase.

"What we have is early adoption — college kids, freshmen that are starting school without a car because they can't have one," said Liz Wattenberg, the general manager of Zipcar in Atlanta. "They're no longer looking at buying a car after graduation."

As a computer science student at Georgia Tech, Scott Ehardt realized it cost more to park his van on campus than to share a car. He got more creative with public transportation, biking and walking, used Zipcar's pickup to haul heavy loads and smaller cars for fun and groceries.

The only downside: counting driving time in dollars.

"I couldn't decide to stay somewhere longer," said Ehardt, now 23 and graduated. "You have this time limit hanging over you the whole time."

He recently bought a Toyota Prius that he uses, along with public transportation, to commute from Midtown to Alpharetta. Still, he says, he would go car-free in the future if his work situation changed.

Hackler, the grocery shopper, says he notices that the cars closest to his condo are booked more often these days, which could be annoying if it weren't encouraging to him. (Zipcar is constantly shuffling the locations of its fleet to accommodate its drivers, it says.)

He skips the gym in favor of his bike, makes extra cash by renting his condo's parking space and actually enjoys driving when he does hit the road on those special occasions when he needs a car.

"I want it to succeed," Hackler said. "If Zipcar wasn't available, I can pretty much guarantee I would own a car. We pay a huge premium for that ridiculous convenience, and it would just be sitting there all the time."

HOW CAR SHARING WORKS

Various car-sharing companies and nonprofits have different systems for reservations and payments. In Atlanta, drivers can access Zipcar, a nationwide car-sharing company with 70 vehicles parked in metro Atlanta. Here's how Zipcar works.

Register. Online at www.zipcar.com. There's a $25 application fee and yearly or monthly fees, depending on your plan. Drivers must be at least 21, except students at Georgia Tech, Emory and Agnes Scott, who must be at least 18 and can only access campus-area cars. Members must have a valid license for at least one year, and driving history can affect eligibility.

Reserve. Once you're approved and receive a Zipcard, you can reserve a car online or by phone. Cars can be reserved months or minutes ahead. Rates depend on your membership plan, but they range from about $7 to $13 per hour.

Pick up. At your reservation time, locate your car (or call Zipcar if it's not there). Hold your card to the box on the windshield. It will unlock the door throughout your reservation; the key will be inside.

Drive on. A gas card hangs in the visor. You'll need your Zipcard number and the vehicle mileage for it to work. Insurance information is in the glove box. If you get a ticket, let Zipcar know before the cops do, or there could be additional fines. Accident? Call as soon as possible; there is a $500 damage fee.

Return the car. To the space where you picked it up. Make sure the gas tank is at least one-quarter full. If you're running late, call Zipcar to extend the reservation or let it know. There's a $50 penalty for returning a car late without calling, and expect to hear about it if you leave the car messy.

Pay. Zipcar will bill your credit card for the hours you used it. Hourly rates vary based on the type of car, its location and the reservation time.

Jamie Gumbrecht writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Opening week: TVs fall line up

By RODNEY HO

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution



Shows debut virtually every week of the year now so it’s kind of quaint that the ever shrinking original “big three” even put on the pretense of an “opening week.” Fox and the CW have debuted virtually all their fall shows. But ABC, NBC and CBS roll out a majority of their shows this week. So be patient because this is a looong list below.

Monday

• “Dancing With the Stars” 8 p.m. AB C (season debut) — The motley crew this fall includes Kim Kardashian, Cloris Leachman, Lance Bass and Warren Sapp. We’ll all be watching the 82-year-old Leachman and marvel her grace, hoping at the same time she doesn’t break anything.

• “Heroes” 9 p.m. NBC (two-hour season debut) — After an 8 p.m. clip show, we find out who shot Nathan Petrelli while Sylar visits Claire to pick her brain. Literally.

• “The Big Bang Theory” 8 p.m. CBS (season debut) — Penny and Leonard have their first date and the “knowledge” gap causes problems.

• “How I Met Your Mother” 8;30 p.m. CBS (season debut) — The always adorable Sarah Chalke plays Stella, who may or may not say yes to Ted. In the meantime, the ever randy Barney can’t stop thinking about Robin.

• “Two and a Half Men” 9 p.m. CBS (season debut) — Charlie meets a child that resembles him a wee bit too much for comfort.

• “Worst Week” 9:30 p.m. CBS (new series) — Think “Meet the Parents,” minus the humor.

• “CSI: Miami” 10 p.m. CBS (season debut) — When in doubt, shoot the main character. But who shot Horatio?

Tuesday

• “House” 8 p.m. Fox — House hires a private investigator to spy on Wilson now that his former BFF left the roost.

• “NCIS” 8 p.m. CBS (season debut) — A murder of a Navy officer reveals a link between the NCIS team and the investigation.

• “The Mentalist” 9 p.m. CBS (new series) — Simon Baker is a more serious version of Shawn from “Psych.” In other words, a very observant detective minus the wisecracks.

• “Without a Trace” 10 p.m. CBS (season debut) — Steven Weber of “Wings” fame plays the new head of the Missing Persons squad.

Wednesday

• “Knight Rider” 8 p.m. NBC (new series) — The star of this show is KITT, the updated car, voiced by Val Kilmer.

• “The New Adventures of Old Christine” 8 p.m. CBS (season debut) — Barb is up for deportation but thanks to California’s gay laws, her BFF Christine asks Barb to marry her to keep her around. How romantic!

• “Gary Unmarried” 8:30 p.m. CBS (season debut) — Jay Mohr tries his hand at sitcoms by playing a newly divorced dad grappling with being single. Mohr and the supporting cast are reasonably funny in the pilot, at least.

• “CSI: NY” 10 p.m. CBS (season debut) — Where is Mac? Maybe we’ll find out.

Thursday

• “My Name is Earl” 8 p.m., 8:30 p.m. NBC (season debut) — Earl has returned to his list.

• “Survivor: Gabon” 8 p.m. CBS (season debut) — Doctor and former Atlantan Marcus Lehman makes his mark this season.

• “Ugly Betty” 8 p.m. ABC (season debut) — Did Betty pick Gio or Henry — or will a third guy come along?

• “Grey’s Anatomy” 9 p.m. ABC (season debut) — “Journeyman” star Kevin McKidd pops up as a military vet doctor who might end up hooking up with Cristina.

• “The Office” 9 p.m. NBC (season debut) — Jim misses Pam, who is in art school all summer. Michael hits on new HR rep Amy.

• “ER” 10 p.m. NBC (season debut) — This is the show’s final season. Abby wakes up in the aftermath of the ambulance explosion.

Friday

• “America’s Toughest Jobs” 8 p.m. NBC — The contestants try bull riding tonight.

• “Gone Country” 8 p.m. CMT (season finale) — Sean Young & Co. perform their country songs tonight. None look like real viable country stars so who knows who John Rich will pick this time around.

• “Presidential debate” 10 p.m. major broadcast and news channels — Jim Lehrer moderates the first debate on domestic policy at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

• “Stargate Atlantis” 10 p.m. Friday — Michael Shanks reprises his role as archaeologist Daniel.

Looking back at Vintage Lunch Boxes

BACK IN THE DAY... (I always wanted to say that.) I was one of those kids who once took their lunch to school in those cool metal lunch boxes. Mine was "ZORRO" the one pictured here. All the kids at Winnona Park had them. Those were the days.


Who was on your lunch box.?
Please leave your comments:
___________________________

Vintage Lunch Boxes May Carry Memories
By Ralph Kovel and Terry Kovel

Collecting is a great way to remember your childhood, so it is not surprising that old, metal lunch boxes have become popular collectibles.

The idea of a tin pail or box to hold a lunch is not new.

In the late 1800s, products like tobacco were sold in tin containers with handles so they could be reused as lunch boxes. The boxes were decorated with ads for the product. In those days, many men took a lunch with them to their work in factories, fields or offices.

The tradition of the lunch box continued in the 1900s. In 1949, it is said, the makers of Aladdin vacuum bottles thought it might boost lunch box sales if they put a picture of a popular TV star on the box and the bottle. They added a decal of Hopalong Cassidy, and it sold so well that others followed.

Roy Rogers, another TV cowboy, had a lithographed steel lunch box by 1953. More than 2 1/2 million were sold. The steel boxes remained popular in the 1950s and ’60s. Hundreds of boxes picturing TV, movie and comic characters, and even popular toys, were made.

In the 1970s, the Florida legislature passed a law outlawing metal boxes because they were dangerous–some were used to bash school classmates. After that, lunch boxes were made of hard plastic or vinyl. They are still decorated with popular images, but they have lost some of their glamour. Metal boxes in excellent condition sell for hundreds of dollars each.

Opening night @ The Decatur High Stadium

I thought I would try the concession stand at half time, the lines were long and when I did give my order they were out of all the good stuff. I guess they did not plan on the big crowd.
Next time I'm sure they will have plenty of food.

The Decatur High School Stadium's Grand Opening.

It was a great Grand Opening for Decatur's new Stadium. The weather was perfect.
It was packed.
The Decatur Bulldogs lost to Hillgrove Hawks
35-15
More photos here.




For more photos click here.

Special note: I finally got to meet David at the inDECATUR we both had a great spot for taking photos, A place I like to call "The Fifty Yard Line"
Be sure to check out his photo's and videos he took.

Sneak Peek of Opening Night @ Decatur's New Stadium

Decatur High School 's Thursday Night Under the Lights Dress Rehearsal... well, sort of.

By KRISTINA TORRES

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Some 10 months after Decatur turned out the lights at the old historic high school stadium on N. McDonough Street, the new brick and steel stadium that replaced it will host its first home football game Friday night.

Kick-off is at 7:30 p.m.
“Hard to believe all the waiting is reaching an end,” Lauri McKain-Fernandez, Decatur High’s principal, said in a community e-mail this week. “Our new stadium is beautiful and I know the students are proud to be a part of Decatur High’s history.”

City officials are expecting a big crowd. Free parking is available in the school’s upper parking lot (along Howard), the Callaway lot (at Trinity and Commerce) and the Courthouse parking structure (also at Trinity and Commerce).

A free shuttle will run from the Callaway lot to the stadium entrance both before and after the game. Students will also be on hand to help direct foot traffic.

FRIDAY SEPT 19, 2008

CONGRATULATIONS TO DECATUR HIGH SCHOOL ON YOUR NEW STADIUM

Tonight is a Big Night For Decatur...The Grand Opening of the new Decatur High School Stadium.

Tonight The Decatur Bulldogs vs Hillgrove Hawks in the Brand New Decatur High School Stadium.

BE THERE.


Bottom photo is a vintage photo for the 1968 indecatur year book.

"GOOD LUCK DECATUR IN YOUR NEW STADIUM TONIGHT"

GO DECATUR !

I want 2 Hotdogs & A Big Orange Drink at the Decatur High School Stadium. Fun Town Video No. 17

Fun Town Friday Entertainment Presents Video No. 17

Remember these types of Team Spirit Paper Footballs. GO DECATUR !

I remember helping my brother make these types of team spirit paper footballs. They were made on Thursday's to hand out to the students on Friday
for the week-end game.
You just pinned them to your shirt.

Do you Remember ?
All the Cool Kids had them at Decatur High.

When I helped make them with with my brother , I took some to my school ,Winnona Park, and passed them out to my classmates , I thought I was (B.M.O.C.)
for those of you who don't know what that stands for it's BIG MAN ON CAMPUS.



GO DECATUR !

Sweet Rides at The McDonough Street Market

The Rolling Stones...LIVE - CLASSIC

Under my thumb
The girl who once had me down
Under my thumb
The girl who pushed me around

It's down to me oh yea
The way she talks when she's spoken to.
Down to me, the change has come,
She's under my thumb

Say it's alright

Under my thumb
The squirmin' dog who's just had her day
Under my thumb
The girl who has just changed her ways

It's down to me, oh yea
The way she talks when she's spoken to.
Down to me, the change has come
She's under my thumb
Say it's alright

Under my thumb
A siamese cat of a girl
Under my thumb
She's the sweetest, pet in the world

It's down to me oh yeah
The way she does just what she's told
Down to me, the change has come,
She's under my thumb
Ah say it's alright
Easy babe

It's down to me, oh yeah
The way she talks when she's spoken to
Down to me, the change has come,
She's under my thumb
Yeah, it's alright

Under my thumb
Her eyes are often kept to herself
Under my thumb, well I
I can still look at someone else

It's down to me, oh yeah
The way she talks when she's spoken to
Down to me, the change has come,
She's under my thumb
Say, it's alright.

Say it's alright
take it easy babe
Say it's alright

Take it easy babe
Take it easy babe
Feels alright
Take it, take it easy babe.

Vintage Sinclair Filling Station -715 East Lake Dr.

Painstaking restoration brings landmark back to life

Have you ever wondered about the former Sinclair service station at 715 East Lake Drive, just off the square at Harmony Park? You're not alone. A lot of people stop by the attractive art deco building when owner Wayne Allen is there to ask about it. It turns out, the station has been around since 1939. Over the years, it's gone through many owners and has been a car repair shop, a fruit stand and a rib shack in addition to a gas station. Wayne bought it and painstakingly restored it with his friends David Funderburk and Lisa Tenerovich. But the building now doesn't have anything to do with pumping gas or barbecuing ribs. These days, it's mostly a hangout. It's a place where Wayne gets together with buddies who collect vintage cars and motorcycles like he does. He also uses it as an office. And David uses it as a studio to pursue his hobby, photography.

The car club is known as the Georgia Outsiders. Some days, you might notice some of the lovingly preserved and polished cars from decades past around the station, and a gang of Wayne's friends inside. "Mostly, we just eat hamburgers and tell lies," he says. Only a few of Wayne's vehicles are at the station at any one time. There isn't enough room for all. He's got a 1933 Ford Roadster, a 1937 Ford Coupe, a 1957 Chevy, 1962 Corvette and a 1963 Comet Fastback as well as 1941 Indian and 1947 Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

When the building was a real gas station, Oakhurst had more of a commercial feel to it. There was a drug store, a hardware store, a shoe store and a supermarket in the square. The station was built in a design that typified Sinclair stations in those days, called the castle style. When he was restoring the building, Wayne examined pictures of Sinclair stations on old road maps that he's collected, to be as authentic as possible.

At first, the station was known as Tarpley's Service Station. A number of different owners and names followed. Wayne discovered advertisements from some of them in old Decatur High School yearbooks. A common pitch in the ads was, "Personal Attention to Washing and Greasing." That slogan now adorns a large window in the station's front room, along with an old phone number, PR3-3739. An artist friend of Wayne's painted them.

When Wayne bought the building for $200,000 in December of 2001, it had seen better days. In fact, it's safe to say it was a true eyesore. The concrete driveway was crumbling, there were abandoned vehicles in the back, an old phone booth out front, trash inside and the pungent smell of grease and garbage throughout. Wayne had been working for years in a Harley-Davidson dealership. He was thinking of retiring and doing something fun. Fixing the station up and turning it into a hangout seemed to fit the bill. He sold his share in the dealership, bought the building and got to work.

When he's not playing amateur photographer, David is a general contractor at the Schoppman Freese Co. of Marietta, experience that proved a big asset in the restoring the 140,000-square-foot building. He, Wayne and Lisa poured concrete, installed new ceiling beams, put in electrical wiring and lights, painted everything and looked around in antique shops for old service station signs to adorn their work. They also enclosed the front, where cars used to drive through, under a canopy.

We should note that local authorities at first were skeptical about what the three had in mind. It took months before they could get all the necessary permits. Today, an old sign inside again boasts about "clean rest rooms." There's an ancient coke machine in the office, along with an early television set. A display case features old maps and other service station paraphernalia, along with a few pictures of a much-younger Wayne, from when he used to race motorcycles.

In addition to getting a hangout, Wayne also got a sense of pride in his work and the contribution he's made to his community. "It was cool to do it. I was born and raised here, and I'd hate to see this area fall apart, " he says. "I think the community liked seeing how we changed this place." Wayne lives in Winnona Park with his wife, Laura Lee.
The energetic three friends aren't done yet. They plan to add a two-story addition to the back of the building, to yield more room for Wayne's cars and David's photography.
Part of the fun, though, is just hanging out and explaining what the building is to quizzical people who stop by. As if to prove the point, one woman who was walking her dog poked her head in the door while Wayne was being interviewed for this article. "Can I ask you a question? What is this place?" she said. Those same questions are repeated, almost word-for-word, quite often.

Perhaps this article has answered all your questions about the place. But even so, be sure to poke your head in too, or wave hello, next time you pass by.