I was shocked today!

Burger King before the wrecking ball struck

I was told today that the old Burger King located at Scales and Richardson in Reidsville has been torn down after being boarded up for years.  The Burgers King's plywood windows and doors were one of the main attractions on the famous Reidsville Walking Tour.

Family Dollar is slated to build a new location in the former Burger King spot.  Reidsville will soon have access to almost as many Dollar (Family Dollar, Dollar General, Dollar Tree) stores as pizza parlors, tattoo shops, and beauty salons.

It's easy to understand why Reidsville was picked as one of the top cities in the state.

The best of times, the worst of times

The Reidsville Review has selected Eden and Reidsville as two of the top cities in North Carolina.  The Review is reporting Reidsville was chosen as #30 and Eden as #38.

Not surprisingly, The head knockers at The Reidsville and Eden Chamber of Commerce are pretty excited.

Oddly, Eden and Reidsville have also been selected as the 9th and 11th worst cities in North Carolina.  The Reidsville Review has not mentioned this fact.

Nobody seems very excited about being selected as the 9th and 11th worst cities in the state.

I don't know who to believe?

I met some interesting people today

I attended Eden's SHAGGIN' ON FIELDCREST event.  It was a lot like the Eden event I attended a couple of months ago.  You remember OINK AND ALE, don't you?  This SHAGGIN' event is held in downtown Draper.  It features beer in the street and some really loud music.  I also saw a ZERO GRAVITY booth and maybe two other shoot something and win a prize booths.  That's pretty much it.  I guess SHAGGIN' ON FIELDCREST is exactly like OINK AND ALE.  If you want to see pictures of SHAGGIN', just click on the OINK link.

I saw lots of interesting folks in the Draper area of Eden.  The people watching was very exciting.  Draperites are an unusual breed.

First there was the Barber of Draper Tommy Woodall.  Well, I didn't actually see Tommy because he's serving what amounts to a life sentence in prison for boinking some mentally challenged teenage girls who were reportedly being pimped out by their mother.

But I did see Tommy's old hangout where some of the boinking is said to have taken place.  Appropriately, SHAGGIN' was just a few steps down the street from Woodall's.  Woodall's is all boarded up now - lonely and desperate looking.  I guess it will be that way for a couple of decades.  I hope Tommy can open her back up in the year 2036 when he gets out of prison.

And I met Geri Hunt.  Geri is the latest in a long, long line of Reidsville Review newspaper publishers.  As she was introduced to me, I shook her hand and told her how much I enjoyed her newspaper, especially the online edition.  For some reason, Geri acted kinda odd when all I was doing was trying to be polite.  She quickly scurried away as soon as I released her hand.  I wanted to talk a little "shop" with her.  Strange.  She treated me like Ann Fish used to do.  Maybe my six-day deodorant pad was failing me.  It was a very hot day.

Glenn Martin delivers another depressing child fatality report to the County Commissioners

I saw Glenn Martin.  You remember Glenn Martin, don't you?  His hair is all white now.  Glenn was once named the most boring speaker in Rockingham County government.  He is the Director of Public Health.  Every year Glenn would give a speech to the County Commissioners about how many children died in Rockingham County two years ago.  Glenn was never more current than two years ago.  Every year his report was the same - two babies died from SIDS, one died in a car wreck, one drowned, one was killed by his drunk "diddy", and one died of unknown causes.  Poor Glenn.  Year after year, the same tragic report.  Glenn had a committee that studied these things, but it never got any better.  I felt sorry for him.  He couldn't seem to make a difference in how many children died.

 Dubby was at OINK and probably SHAGGIN' too

I heard a report that W.L. Pryor was at SHAGGIN', but I never saw him myself.  "Dubby" is still fresh from being found guilty of 15 illegal gaming felonies and from being rejected by the Danville Planning Board for wanting to build a bingo parlor in Danville.  It seems the Planning Board got a little nervous when he said there might be some "electronic pull tab machines" on the premises.  I have no idea what "electronic pull tab machines" are, but the Planning Board didn't like the sounds of it.  "Dubby" plans to appeal the Planning Board decision to the Danville City Council.

This interesting street sign was spotted in Draper during SHAGGIN'.  I'm not at all sure how to interpret it.  I suppose Draper folk understand it and that's all that matters.

He never missed a day!

For more than a week, the Reidsville Review has been featuring a story about a kid who had 13 years of perfect school attendance.

Review poll now in third month

The Reidsville Review poll on the favorability of Duke Power following the coal ash dump into the Dan River and a $250,000 grant to "a Rockingham County organization" is now entering it's third month.  How long can this go on?  The poll seems likely to outlive any pollution caused by the spill.

Miller Brewing: Re-opening in one year

Note: The following story has been read more than 10,000 times.  It may needlessly outrage some of you who feel a need to be outraged at somebody about something.  That is unfortunate, but please don't label me as "irresponsible" because you don't like what we've reported.  This is exactly as it was told by an Eden City official.  I will not name the official or the place or circumstance where we were given the information.  If you don't like the story (I'm not sure why because it is somewhat hopeful), don't complain to me...contact the City of Eden.

We just attended a really nice Memorial Day weekend cookout in Eden.  Very nice...hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken breasts, all kinds of sides.  Good food and beverage.  Nice, friendly people.

We knew practically no one at the party, but we did meet a highly placed Eden City official.  He told us production has completely halted at Miller Brewing.  No more beer is being made in Eden, NC.

Only a few maintenance workers remain to monitor the Eden plant.  According to the highly placed Eden City official, all production workers have been shipped off to the Atlanta area or the Shenandoah area.  He did not say, but we assume Shenandoah refers to northern Virginia.

Again, according to the highly placed Eden official, Miller plans to keep the Eden plant closed for about a year until its contract with the Teamsters Union runs out.  After the contract with the Teamsters expires, the plant will be re-opened and production will resume without union protection for its workers.

Asked why Miller Brewing would bother to re-open the Eden plant, if production was being made in Atlanta and Shenandoah,  the highly placed Eden city official said production in Atlanta and Shenandoah would not make up for the loss of Eden.  Miller would be short on beer production for a year while the Eden plant was closed.  The temporary shortage of beer will be well worth getting rid of the union in Eden.

The highly placed Eden City official told us this was the straight of it. 

He also told us he has a high school education.  He seemed like the smartest man we've ever met.  He seemed to know everything.  At least that's the way he sounded.

Review poll sets new endurance record

This is either a mighty important poll or the poll writer has simply run out of new ideas.
The Reidsville Review's poll on Duke Power has now been up for more than a month. The "read the story" link in the headline does not work and never has. On a more positive note, the number of votes cast has increased above the initial 16 votes.

Today's Question

Does the recent $250,000 Duke Energy grant to a Rockingham County organization change your opinion of the utility? Read the story: http://bit.ly/1r1UONX