[Bristol-Birds] the junk in Shelley's Chicken parking lot
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2007 05:42:28 -0400
I had a talk with the new owner of Shelley's Chicken on U.S. 421
Wednesday about getting junk cleaned up on the
restaurant's property. His name is Gary Wilson and he purchased
the place from Shelley Herndon in March. The restaurant is a
frequent gathering and eating place for area birders.
It is not easy to go into a business and talk to the owner about the
pile of junk that is out front. Gary actually took it much better than
I thought. He was kind about my suggestion and we agreed something
needed to be done.
What I talked to him about was a large lighted sign panel that was laying out
near the road and some scattered wires and a 12 ft. high 6X6 post
that was in the pile.
Gary explained that the sign was actually new and he just purchased
it last weekend and had some workers put the posts up, mount the new
sign and wire the lights.
That was before I backed into it with my car Wednesday, breaking one of the two
post in half and the entire sign came crashing down from about 15 feet
above the ground with the interior lighting crushed from the impact.
Wow! What a nosy. I know what it must sound like to be in a hurricane.
I suggested I would help Gary get everything fixed up so his property
and sign would be nice looking. For starters, an insurance adjuster from
Nationwide Insurance Company will contact Gary today and they will
begin the process.
Since Don Holt and I have the same insurance agent -- Robert Suggs --
I thought Don would like to know that the insurance company
has assured me they will take care of everything. I will not have a deductible
to pay. I won't have to do anything else. They will work on all the details
with Shelley's Chicken. That is just one advantage to having insurance.
Yes, I was driving my new Honda Pilot SUV. I was very lucky that
no one was hurt and that my car only has minimal damage to the back bumper.
Most of the bumper will probably have to be replaced. No deductible will
be required for that either. Nationwide will forgive the deductible because
of my 47 years as a customer and the long time it has been since
I have had a claim with them. The adjuster will look at my car next week
and we will decide who will fix it and when. They also said no rate
increase for my premiums.
No. I was not talking on my cellphone. I had been. I had just called
Larry McDaniel but I was standing outside and walking around in the
parking lot while talking with him. The insurance company was glad I was
not on my cellphone and that Carolyn and I were wearing seatbelts.
They also liked the fact there were no personal injuries ;-)
The last time Nationwide Insurance had to pay a claim for one of my
birding accidents, it came on Papervills Rd. between Shelley's at
U.S. 421 and Paperville along the creek. I was birding with Harvey
Hawk and Danny Cook (older brother of Steve Cook who is the
prominent stain glass artist at Jonesborough).
It was a snowy day and an uninsured
driver totaled his car and almost totaled mine. He lost control on a
slick road and hit me head on. He was thrown out in the road and my
car was a mess. The engine was driven of the mounts and into the
firewall. Harvey's knee drove the glove compartment door into the
compartment. I bent the steering wheel all the way to the dash from
the impact. Danny slid under the front seat and his legs were pinned
for a moment or so. The other driver was thrown out of his vehicle
and I had to crawl over his bleeding body to get out my door. I was
wearing a seat belt and he was not. That was in the winter of 1967-68.
I had bought that 66 Chevy Malibu new the previous year. The
other driver hit me on my side of the road and was charged in the
accident. Since he had no insurance, Nationwide paid for my
repairs under my collision insurance and even collected my deductible
from the other driver. My lawyer (Myers Massengill) had the other guy to make
payments to Nationwide for my car damage over a period of two years.
The other driver was home on leave from the war in Vietnam and he agreed to
have them garnishee his military pay. I had to pay the deductible but
they collected that from him and eventually sent me a check for the
deductible after they collected their money from him.
The owner of Shelley's, Gary Wilson, is a pleasant person and has
really fixed the place up with new tables and table cloths, etc.
"Come on back and eat with us soon," he said with a smile as I left.
You can't beat that for a proprietor who just spent a lot of time and effort
to purchase a new sign, get it delivered and have it erected. He had not
had a chance to put the first message on it.
What a smashing way to finish off a day of birding.
Let's go birding again......
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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