Joe Dixie Fuller

I spent most of the day at Zarzours making chicken and dumplings, peach cake, and homemade strawberry ice cream for lunch tomorrow. You know, when I’m cooking there alone, I find myself going back to my childhood when I spent the weekends there with my Aunt Rose, my grandfather Abe Zarzour, and my Uncle George. These were some of the most magical and wonderful times in my life.

I may have mentioned in previous posts that my Uncle George was both a passionate Ham Radio operator and an electronics genius. He was a staff electronics repairman for Clark Brothers Furniture Company, built electronic test equipment from scratch for Olan Mills, and was an electronics consultant at Chattanooga State Technical College. He lived on electronics… those were the days when a television or radio could actually be repaired. I spent most of my weekends there in Uncle George’s Radio shop, fascinated by everything he did and said. He took the time to explain things to me in a way that I could understand, even at a very young age. He was a good teacher… loved me and our time together. I worshiped the ground he stepped on.

He would come to our house when I got home from school on Friday afternoon and pick me up, where I usually stayed until Sunday. Aunt Rose would make dinner around 6 o’clock…usually casserole, chili, or burgers…I remember it tasting like heaven. My Aunt Rose was an angel. The bedroom was also a common room or study. In his room, he had 2 sofas (you know those sofas that can be opened and turned into a bed), a television, a coffee table and a few chairs. The back dining room as it is now known. It was warm and comfortable. When I stayed there I would sleep on one of the daybeds. I loved it…

Uncle George was a night owl, staying up until at least midnight or 1 a.m. talking on Ham Radio or watching the evening show. I would sit there next to him until he fell asleep. I would wake up in bed the next morning. She and my grandfather shared the back bedroom…their bedroom had two single beds. My grandfather, Abe Zarzour, had a small café/concessionaire in the ground floor lobby of the Hamilton National Bank Building at the corner of Main and Market. He was known as the Mayor of Main Street…everyone knew him because he was a local baseball figure and a friend to everyone he met. He would stand on the corner outside his cage and wave to everyone passing by. His place was where sports enthusiasts ate lunch and shot some silly shots. Abe was my mother’s father.

Anyway, Uncle George and I would hang out at his store on Friday night… When we woke up on Saturday, Aunt Rose would make a grocery list for Uncle George and I to pick up at Piggley Wiggley’s on Rossville Avenue. When we came back, she would prepare eggs and grits or breakfast pastries. After breakfast my uncle and grandfather would sweep and mop the restaurant….you could set your watch according to the weekend events….it was the same every weekend.

Along the far wall of the restaurant was a pay-per-view pinball machine supporting its ass. Even though the place was closed on Saturday, there were usually a few idiots who showed up with half pints and a pocket full of coins and stuff filling the machine until someone won. The owners of Williams and Johnson transmission repair came every Saturday until the bottle was empty or they ran out of change.

Once the ground was dry and the gamblers had left, Aunt Rose would fix us salad and steaks. I don’t know if any of you remember when Golden Gallon Milk Jugs first opened here, there was a horse racing show called “Let’s Go to the Races” on Saturday nights at 5-6 o’clock. Golden Gallons were big advertisers for this show, and every time you walked by a Milk Jug location, you received a ticket to the race where a possible winner was declared when you opened the sealed coupon. If your horse wins, you can buy your winning ticket from Golden Gallon stores. We would watch the show every Saturday while eating steak. I don’t know or remember if we won anything, but it was a lot of fun. I think you won a gallon of milk or eggs or something… I remember it like it was yesterday.

After dinner we would hang out in the radio shop until someone fell asleep.

When we woke up, St. Petersburg in the city center. It was time to go to mass at Peter and Paul Catholic Church. As a family we were serious Catholics….my uncle and grandfather were Knights of Columbus..my Aunt Rose’s pecking order and I’m serious about it is #1 is Jesus Christ, #2 is John F. Kennedy, and #3 is Danny Thomas. This is how it happened… We never missed going to mass.

I will never forget the weekends I spent at Zarzours….it never fails….that’s what goes through my mind when I’m there alone.

I love you guys, please come for lunch, thank you Dixie.