Two new eateries for Tarboro.

My once favorite "hang out", the Main Street Cafe' will be re-opening this Thursday with new owners.  I stopped by briefly on Monday during an introductory coffee tasting session. They have done away with Dave Palakanis' choice of BRIGHT ORANGE wall color and have painted the interior a calming pale sea-foam green.  There are flowers on the tables and some rearranging to make space has occurred.  The big change (aside from new owners) is that they no longer have the espresso machine. 

The menu wasn't yet printed but I overheard plans for desserts like their signature grasshopper pie and lunch offerings in the form of deli-style sandwiches , soups and salads.  Oh, and there will be sandwiches suitable from health-conscious vegetarians, too.  The cafe' will be open Monday to Friday from 7am to 5pm with additional hours on Saturday and Sunday.   It is located at the corner of Church Street and Main Street, across from the Tarboro Town Hall.

Also scheduled to open on Thursday is the Classic Diner, brought to you by the same good folks who own and operate Bud's Grill.  It's located directly across from the Unusual Shoppe on Pitt Street and from my office upstairs I have been able to watch the preparations.  It has a great vintage diner look with black & white checkered tile floors, a jukebox filled with golden oldies and pictures of classic cars.  The menu will be exactly what you'd expect at a diner in the fifties; juicy burgers, hot dogs, creamy milk shakes, salty french fries and soda fountain treats.  Maybe it will become a favorite after school hangout for our town's teens like in the TV show Happy Days. 

I'm excited by these two new ventures and hopeful that they will be successful as well as inspirational to other entrepreneurial minds.  Folks like this see the potential in this town and are willing to make the effort to bring it to life. 

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES! 

... and the good news is ...

My hiatus from much community involvement has given me a chance to step back and enjoy the great little community I am a part of.  It has also allowed me to turn my eyes from the things I don't like and give more focus on how I would like things to be.

Maybe I didn't get major changes started in Tarboro but I know I have done good and apparently my presence here is still doing good.

In my attempt to understand how things work, not just in this little town but in the universe as a whole, I've come to understand that I shouldn't put any energy into trying to outlaw or eliminate the things that I don't like. It only fills my heart with the emotions of frustration, anger and with negative energy.  Fighting against things can ruin one's life and exhaust one's spirit with the effort of "pushing against".   You've heard the saying "Go with the flow", well, I'm letting go of the paddles and letting the positive flow of source energy take me downstream in an effortless manner.

I'm glad that I came to see "what is" in Tarboro.  It provided me with the contrast of what I don't want to help give me a clearer vision for what I DO want to be in "my" home town.  I have no control over the behavior of anyone but myself and from this day forth I will look for the signs of positive change and see this town becoming the fabulous town it can be.

I was mistaken

As you may have guessed from my recent lack of postings to this blog, I've lost the enthusiasm I once had for this town.

I honestly thought it was "ripe for change" and ready for positive growth.  I was mistaken.

Something is out of whack here and I've spent hours, days, months, learning about Tarboro, how the town government operates, how a town government should operate, talking to residents, researching the history, researching how other small towns succeed, learning about towns with vision plans, learning about how the tourism industry can help a poor economy, mulling it all over and trying to get to the root of the problem.  

I've always thought that the drive to be better, do better, live better, to improve on one's self is what it is to be alive.  Without that drive, the goals, the "something to look forward to" why go through the effort of daily life?

That's where I was mistaken.  I thought this town was ALIVE, AWARE and EVOLVING!  It is not, and it will not be until the long-time residents who claim to love this town, really learn to LOVE this town and nurture it as GOOD parents would nurture a child, helping it to become all that it can be, planning for its successful future.  What we have are folks that are leaving the town's future in the hands of a few and not even paying close attention to what these "few" are doing or NOT doing.  Take responsibility for YOUR town.

It may take a village to raise a child, but it definitely takes a "village" to raise a town.   If Tarboro is going to have a grand 21st century, it is gonna take YOU getting off your ass and making it happen.  Yes, I mean YOU...and YOU...and YOU.   If you live here it is your responsibility to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to create a town to be proud of.

Now, as for me... I don't have family ties here, I don't have friends here that I've known since grade school.  I thought Tarboro was going to be my home but, I always have the option of going somewhere else where the leaders are seeking growth, the residents sincerely care, and the future looks bright.

So Sam, Donald, the councilmen, you can all breathe a sigh of relief. I don't want to fight you. I never did.  I didn't come here for that. I came to Tarboro because I thought it was a town loaded with potential.  The potential is here, but I don't see enough people with the vision and energy and love for this town that is necessary to make it happen.  I want to live in a town that is "cherishing its history while creating an amazing future".    Is it Tarboro or is Tarboro just another sad, Southern town?

You tell me...or better yet, SHOW me!

Goodbye Main Street Cafe'

I can't go to the Main Street Cafe' this morning.  I can't have Alice fix my coffee exactly the way I like it without my having to say a word.  I can't hear Michael's silly jokes or watch him dancing to the music from his list of ipod favorites.  I can't smell the fresh baked brownies, so rich with chocolate goodness.  No more raspberry chapotle for my breakfast turkey wrap. I can't run into my friends and neighbors as they get their daily jolt of java and fill me in on the latest news. 

I was a "regular" at the cafe'.  Most weekday mornings I could be found at "my" table between 9 and 10:30.   I was not the only morning "regular", though most didn't stay as long.  There were teachers, and doctors, and lawyers and all sorts of business owners; the archeologists, the masseuse and the gold man; moms with their kids.  There were the folks who came to use the wi-fi and sat diligently working on their laptops.  There was the man who conducted interviews and used the cafe as his office.  The cafe' was a place where lives intersected in our town, and now it is gone.

Michael and Jennifer and the kids were new to Tarboro when they came here just a few years ago, but they came to be a part of our community. They came because they, too, saw the potential in this town.  The potential AND the need.  The need for new things, fresh ideas, creative energy.  They helped to make Tarboro's 2nd Saturdays a success and they created a "cool" place where creative "coffee-drinking" people could go to find each other.  "Higher consciousness through caffeine" was the slogan on the back of the cafe's T-shirts and though it may not have been caffeine-generated, I think the cafe' itself brought a bit of awareness and consciousness to this otherwise sleepy town.

Tarboro hasn't just lost another small business, or a coffee shop (to be more specific).  We've lost so much more, including a family of great folks who were friends to many in this town.  Folks who wanted nothing more than to make this town their home and be part of the revitalization of Tarboro. 

Good-bye to the Price Family; Michael, Jennifer, Chris, Seth and Drew and good-bye to the Main Street Cafe', you will be greatly missed.

Tarboro town pride

I'm beginning to think that I might care more about helping Tarboro be great than most of the folks who are FROM here. I hear people complaining about how things are, but they are apparently waiting for someone ELSE to fix the problems.

This morning on facebook, one local woman's post was "A rainy day at the beach is better than a sunny day in Tarboro." , to which several people gave the "thumbs up" in agreement with that statement and another local woman responded "Amen to that, anywhere is better than Tarboro."

Statements like that from long-time residents break my heart.  If they don't LOVE this town. If they aren't willing to work together to create a fabulous place to live, and work and raise children, what can I do? When I came here, I immediately saw the town's potential and felt as though Tarboro was open and eager for growth and revitalization. I was enthusiastic about "what could be" and more than willing to help make it happen, but what started as a joyous attempt to bring some new creative energy to the "drawing board" of Tarboro's future has become a lonely uphill struggle. 

After reading the negative comments about Tarboro from those who have always called it home, I truly start to wonder if there is any hope for this town at all.  The old saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.", and apparently I'm not the only one who thinks our town could use some "fixin", but when a "come-here" like me tries to make it better for everyone, she's accused of criticizing the town, while the "from-heres" whine and complain about how things are, but instead of working to fix things, they head off to the beach, or Rocky Mount or Raleigh or "anywhere but Tarboro".   What ever happened to town pride? And the more serious question is "How can Tarboro survive without it?".