GoTarboro.com

I apologize for the lack of entries over the past few months, it's not that I had nothing to say, simply that a major medical condition took over my life and put me out of commission for awhile.  My strength is slowly returning and I have reclaimed my position as Tarboro blogger.  Hopefully the things I have to say will help to affect positive changes in the year 2010.

This year is Tarboro's 250th anniversary and there are "official" events planned throughout the year to celebrate that fact.  On Monday, January 18th, the celebration began with a parade and the unveiling of a sidewalk marker.  Click here for the article in the Daily Southerner.

The Grassroots will also have a few "unofficial" events scattered here and there throughout 2010, so keep your eyes and ears open so you don't miss out on the fun.

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! 

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 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.