Here?s a tribute to Alabama
|
Yes, it was overboard, even for me. And it was only through promises of a grand apology that I still have a job today.
It has come to my attention, that people from Alabama are blessed with great intelligence. They are incredibly good looking, and when they mate they have good-looking children.
I know my favorite date in U.S. history is April 13, 1831, which is the day the University of Alabama formally opened its doors. I can?t verify this, but I believe on April 14, 1831, Alabama lost to Tennessee for the first time.
If it wasn?t for Alabama, we wouldn?t have Rosa Parks, that guy from the Oak Ridge Boys with the really long beard, and Courteney Cox. Just think, with no Alabama we might not have ever had the TV show ?Friends.?
With all of their intelligence and common sense, it also stands to reason that folks from Alabama can take a joke. But apparently not.
That?s why I had to promise not to tell any Alabama jokes in this week?s column. For instance, I can?t tell you about the state motto: ?Alabama ? yes, we have electricity!?
And since I promised, I can?t tell you about a new divorce law in Alabama. According to this law, when a couple divorces they can still be brother and sister.
Alabama is such a great state, I?ve heard rumor O.J. Simpson is considering a move there because everybody has the same DNA.
In closing, I want to extend my deepest apologies to anyone from Alabama I might have offended in last week?s Business Pulse. This is a light-hearted column intended to be fun. The purpose is not to get Alabama residents to talk to my boss in an attempt to get me fired.
In other South-related news, I have to tell you about Judy, a female chimpanzee who escaped from the Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas in January.
According to the Associated Press, during Judy?s escape she was observed entering a bathroom, grabbing a brush, and cleaning the commode. According to reports, she was also seen scrubbing kitchen appliances with a sponge.
I say let a few of those chimpanzee?s escape near my house, along with one that?s willing to mow the lawn in a couple months.
And finally I bring you the horror story of a British dentist gone bad. If you feared going to the dentist before, this won?t make matters any easier.
According to the British Dental Council, dentist David Quelch was found guilty of professional misconduct for pulling two teeth against a patient?s will. Apparently Quelch held a grudge against the female patient for her constant complaining during previous treatments.
To exact revenge, Quelch apparently pulled two of her teeth and said, ?That will teach you.? Somehow I see that move hurting his dental practice.
Inn at Harvest Farms closes due to bankruptcy
It didn?t take long for Keith Mooneyham to take a thriving business and run it into the ground. Diane and Freddie Morton built the Inn at Harvest Farms into a popular wedding destination before selling it to Mooneyham about two years ago.
In simple terms, Mooneyham ruined the business and gave the Mortons a financial kick to the throat by filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Freddie told me Thursday that he and his wife could lose in the neighborhood of $300,000 in the deal.
?We?re going to be the big losers in this,? said Freddie. ?And he?s going to walk away without a scratch. He lives in a half million dollar house in Murfreesboro. He drives a $40,000 truck and a $30,000 car and by filing for Chapter 7, he?s going to walk away from this without losing anything.?
There?s a chances the Mortons won?t lose nearly $300,000. If the inn can fetch close to its appraised price ? in the neighborhood of $450,000 to $500,000 ? the Mortons will more than cut their loses in half.
As for the status of the inn, it is currently closed and Mooneyham has left the property. Freddie says he?s been trying to contact him for about 30 days but hasn?t had any luck.
Any weddings that have been booked at the inn are off. And the families who made wedding reservations there can be prepared for another type of kiss ? they can kiss their deposits goodbye.
?We?ve already paid him $900,? said Gwen Hildreth, whose daughter had planned to get married at the inn May 26. ?And they were supposed to do the catering too. With it being this late, I hope we can find another place.?
Gwen just happened to hear about the inn?s financial troubles from a friend. She said she worries about couples who won?t be so fortunate.
?Think about the people who don?t know about this who just show up on their wedding day,? said Gwen. ?They are going to show up and it won?t be open. I understand having a failed business, but at least try to track the people down who have booked a wedding there.?
According to my legal research, Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not involve a repayment plan as Chapter 13 does. Instead of repayment, the debtor forfeits his or her non-exempt assets and the sale of those assets are used to repay the creditors. However, some assets cannot be seized, which is what Freddie was referring to when he said Mooneyham could keep his mansion and expensive vehicles.
It sounds like a lose-lose situation for everyone involved. I just wish nice folks like the Mortons would lose less and Mooneyham would lose more.
But wait, the damage Mooneyham has done doesn?t stop there.
Uncle John?s Kitchen reopens as Susie?s Place
Uncle John?s Kitchen customers are likely aware that Mooneyham bought that once-popular Morrison restaurant about a year ago and changed the name to Harvest Farms Kitchen. And, true to form, he did his best to take a prosperous business and reduce it to shambles.
The bottom finally fell out last week when the restaurant closed for five days. It has now reopened as Susie?s Place and is under the capable direction of Al and Susie Drolsum, who pledge a new attitude.
?We?re going to season the food right and cook the way the customers want us to cook,? said Al. ?You can?t just open up a can of green beans and pour it in a pot and expect people to like it. You have to season it properly.?
Al worked for Mooneyham over the last year and saw things spiraling downhill. He said he tried to change things and make suggestions, but in the end he had to do what Mooneyham told him to do.
?We saw what was wrong,? said Al referring to the mass loss of customers. ?We just couldn?t do anything about it.?
Al said one thing that crippled the breakfast business was the loss of a quality biscuit. He said Mooneyham decided to cut costs and stopped serving the more expensive biscuits Uncle John?s had served for years. The result was a biscuit about as tasty as a frisbee.
?People are going to come here because it?s clean, it?s comfortable and the food is good,? said Al. ?People want good food for a reasonable price and they want it consistently good.?
Al has been in the restaurant business for 31 years so he knows his stuff. The backbone of the business is its lunch plates which feature a meat and two, or a meat and three vegetables. Meats include such favorites as chicken tenders, meatloaf, country fried steak, chicken and dressing, ham, salmon patties and hamburger steak.
Al says his meatloaf was a big hit on Thursday without a serving left over.
?They ate every scrap of it,? said Al. ?The UPS man said it was so good, it was almost like mama?s.?
All lunch plates come with a drink and all breakfast orders come with free coffee. Susie?s Place is open Monday thru Friday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is located on Manchester Highway in Morrison.
Stanton Oil Company goes independent
Sid Stanton owns seven gas stations around McMinnville, including several which had prominently displayed Exxon as its gasoline of choice. Some of you may have noticed that Exxon signage being taken down last week.
Well, there?s good reason for that. Sid is no longer affiliated with Exxon so the signs are coming down.
?I?m going totally independent,? Sid told me Friday. ?I?m going to try to offer better prices, which is what everybody seems to be wanting. So we?re going to try this awhile and see how it goes.?
Since I had Sid on the line, I decided to ask him a few questions about his thoughts on gasoline. If you recall, it was around three months ago when Sid correctly predicted the price of gas would dip below $2 a gallon and it did.
However, Sid didn?t talk with much optimism this time about the price of gas dropping.
?I don?t think they want to see it go lower than the $2 mark,? said Sid. ?That?s where they seem to want to hold it. I think we?ll see it between $2 and $2.25 for awhile. It got down just a little below $2 but we couldn?t keep it there.?
With big oil companies reporting record-breaking profits, Sid said there?s too much money involved to let gas prices slide below $2 a gallon.
?The more money you make, the more you want,? said Sid. ?As long as they don?t get too much heat from the government or the general public, they?re going to keep it up there. And if anything catastrophic happens, then the sky is the limit.?
A moment of silence for Starwood Amphitheatre
Sure, it?s not inside Warren County?s border but over the past few months I?ve tried to broaden my Business Pulse horizons and report regional news that still has local impact. For me, last week?s announcement that Starwood Amphitheatre has cancelled its 2007 lineup and closed its doors has major impact.
I?ve seen dozens of concerts at Starwood and am sorry to see the place close. Of more significance is what is Middle Tennessee going to do to attract major bands to this area with no Starwood?
For folks who like to hear live music, you can go down the list and count the recording artists who would not have performed here over the past 22 years if not for Starwood.
The amphitheatre grossed $4.6 million in ticket sales in 2006 and probably approached that figure in concession sales. Starwood and its 65 acres was recently appraised at $5.75 million, although there is speculation the selling price is much higher. The deal has not been finalized so exact figures are not available. The sale is not to another entertainment company which means the land will probably be turned into a major real estate development.
While the sale of Starwood is saddening, where one door closes, another one opens. I?m curious what will happen with New York-based Superfly Productions, the creator of Bonnaroo. If you recall, Superfly Productions is entering into an agreement to buy the 600-acre farm in Manchester where Bonnaroo has been held for the past five years.
The organization has already hinted at more frequent concerts once the land purchase is complete. I wonder if the sale of Starwood will accelerate the concert plans and bring major bands even closer to McMinnville in Manchester.
And, by the way, The Police are headlining Bonnaroo this year. That?s probably the biggest band to ever play in Coffee County.
That?s all folks
Depending on the reaction of Alabama residents, I or someone else, will be available to take your business tips next week. The phone number to call is 473-2191.