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East Wade Grill's owner Susie Hood says that she always dreamed of owning a restaurant
where she could serve families and uptown workers good, home-cooked meals. | | |
Uptown restaurant is family enterprise
(April 1, 2007) -- The East Wade Grill in Wadesboro has been an uptown favorite for six
years, but few diners realize that it is the fulfillment of a dream 25
years in the making.
Owner Susie Johnson Hood learned to cook from the same man who taught her
to drive at age five – her dad, racecar driver Major Melton. By the age of
nine, she was doing the grocery shopping and cooking for him and her three
brothers, Richard, Al and Mike (all named for well-known racecar drivers).
Her love for cooking continued as an adult. She started working for the
Pizza Inn in 1976, and then catered for Twin Valley Country Club. “I
introduced the country club to fried chicken at the Civitan and Rotary
lunches,” she said.
She returned to the Pizza Inn, and went from there to waitress and then
assistant manager at the Western Sizzlin Steak House. When Betty (Bett)
Thomas retired, she became manager. “It was then I realized that I wanted
my own restaurant,” Hood said.
She left Western Sizzlin’ to work as an ad representative for The Anson
Record and The Express Newspaper, but, she said of the four-plus years in
those jobs, “The whole time my heart was in food.”
She persuaded her three brothers to be partners in her venture:
Richard, who is manager of Papa Joe’s in Wadesboro, which Hood helped
Open; Mike, who lives in Virginia and is retired from the United
States Navy; and Al, who retired from the City of Laurinburg and still lives there. All three brothers are owners of Melton Brothers on N.C. Hwy. 52-S (formerly Jimmy’s Superette) which is operated by Al.
With their help, she bought the New Town Café from Tim and Debbie
Hildebrandt in 2001, opening the East Wade Grill at 121 E. Wade St. in November. A self-judged perfectionist, Hood said of her home-cooked food, “I want it to be perfect. If I can’t eat it, I won’t serve it – even if it doesn’t look right.”
Her signature dishes are fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, Mexican cornbread and banana pudding. She uses her own recipe for the chicken, disdaining packaged dips. And she worked on her macaroni and cheese recipe for six months until it was the way she wanted it. Hood chuckled as she recalled one customer saying, “This macaroni is too good to be in a restaurant.” Hood is proud to tell her customers that the “Home Cooked Meals” on her sign is no idle boast – 90 percent of everything served is made from scratch, every day.
By August of 2002, she had bought out her partners. However, the East Wade Grill is still a family affair. Daughters Misty Streater and Christy Johnson are very much involved. “Misty does the gravy and Christy does the creamed potatoes,” Hood said. “By now, I feel like they can fix it better than I could. Of course, they can prepare everything else as well.”
Her 13-year-old twin granddaughters, Brittney and Beth Streater, also help out in the kitchen. “They love it,” she said, adding that the twins are fans of the Food Network. Coming up are Misty’s youngest daughter, Emma, age three, and Christy’s daughter, Aleah, age two. Hood mused, “Maybe that’s why the Lord gave me six girls, to help and carry on East Wade Grill.”
Hood’s dream did not end with her success – she would like to open more restaurants. She is hoping to open East Wade Grill 2 in the shopping center adjacent to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in order to have more space and a private dining area to accommodate parties. If it doesn’t work out there, Hood is confident that another door will open, and soon she will open numbers 3, 4 and – “I’ll skip over 13,” she said.
The original East Wade Grill will not close if Hood does open a second or more restaurants. “The uptown people have been good to me,” she said, noting that 50 percent of her business is take-out.
Besides loyal customers, Hood can count on a loyal staff. Six employees of 10 have been with her “on and off” since she opened. In addition to her daughters, they are Heather Harris, Jodie Goodwin, Chris Barbar and Danielle Montgomery. “They have truly made East Wade Grill a huge success,” she said.
East Wade Grill offers stew beef, fried chicken and pork chops every day, but there also are daily specials: Monday, chicken and dumplings; Tuesday, hamburger with onions and gravy; Wednesday, baked chicken; Thursday, meat loaf; and Friday, spaghetti. Chicken livers are served every night.
The restaurant is open Monday-Thursday from 11:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.; Friday and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. It is closed on Saturday. To order take-out, call 704-694-2646.
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Anson's jobless rate jumps .4% in February
(April 2, 2007) – Anson County’s unemployment rate for February jumped .4% -- from 6.9% to start the new year to 7.3% in February (the same rate the county recorded in 2006)
In February, Anson County’s labor force numbered 11,299 (up 178 from January); the number of employed people was 10,474 (up 117 from January); and the number of unemployed people was 825 (up 61 from January).
The February breakdown for Anson’s neighboring counties:
- Montgomery – 12,379 labor force; 822 unemployed; a rate of 6.6% (unchanged from January).
- Richmond – 20,072 labor force; 1,591 unemployed; 7.9% rate (unchanged from January).
- Stanly – 30,638 labor force; 1,518 unemployed; 5.0% rate (down .1% from January).
- Union – 87,680 labor force; 3,447 unemployed; 3.9% rate (down .2% from January).
For February, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.9% – down .1% from January. North Carolina’s labor force numbered 4,489,244 in February with 219,033 people jobless.
Statewide, Scotland County recorded the highest unemployment rate at 10.5%, followed by Hyde County at 10.2% ; Dare and Swain counties at 9.1%; Mitchell at 8.7%; Tyrrell at 8.4%; Graham at 8.1%; Washington at 8.0%; Richmond at 7.9%; and Edgecombe, Rutherford and Yancey counties at 7.6%.
The civilian labor force estimates for all 100 counties are available on the Employment Security Commission's website at www.ncesc.com. For local information, call the ESC office at 704.694.6551 or visit www.ansonjoblink.com.
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Branch Bank & Trust celebrated the grand opening of its new facility on the corner of N. Green St. and E. Caswell St. in Wadesboro on April 12. Above, Dave Hamilton, financial center leader, and Jay Vernon, city executive, share ribbon-cutting honors as employees look on. |
BB&T welcomes customers, guests to new facility
BB&T's parking lot was filled to capacity on April 12 as people came to view the new facility, see the No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, eat hot dogs and chips outside or cake inside, play games, and vie for a chance to win cash and prizes in the money machine.
Among local dignitaries present were Anson County Sheriff Tommy Allen. Allen, also chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, said that he is always pleased when an existing company renews its commitment to Anson County.
Wadesboro Mayor Don McRorie said, "You have improved the corner and made the town of Wadesboro look better." He added, "I did hate to see you leave uptown Wadesboro."
City Executive Jay Vernon said he was pleased to be in the new location. "My first thank-you goes to all of our clients," he said. Vernon also thanked his Anson County staff and "all the guests here today."
Many visiting BB&T executive staff were present for the occasion, including Vince Nelson, president of the South-West Region.
For more information, call 704.694.6521 or visit bbandt.com.
The Wadesboro Civitan Club provided refreshments for the event with hot dogs and all the fixings, tea or lemonade and chips. |
BB&T city executive Jay Vernon presents a check for $1,500 to Russell Scarborough, president of the Wadesboro Civitan Club. |
Kids enjoy the baseball throw booth. |
Jeffray Watson, 10, was the first winner of the money machine. The Wadesboro Elementary School student managed to catch over $20 in cash and marked bills to redeem for prizes. Charlene McCormick, left, congratulates the winner. |
Among other prizes was the Grand Prize: two grandstand tickets to the Lowe's Motor Speedway, May
27th Nextel Cup Race. |
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AEDC elects officers
The Anson Economic Development Corp. Board of Directors has elected officers for 2007-08.
At the AEDC’s annual meeting on April 19, directors re-elected the following officers: Don Scarborough, Plank Road Realty, chairman; Chuck Horne, Hornwood, vice chairman; and Elbert Marshall, Marshall Bruney Media Consultants, secretary; and elected Dana Maness, Anson Bank & Trust, treasurer; Emmett Patterson, retired, Pee Dee Electric Corp., and Fred Sparger, South Piedmont Community College. The newly-elected officers will join Punky Morton, Selectronics, immediate past chairman, to serve on the AEDC’s executive committee.
In a unanimous vote, directors approved a resolution applauding the Anson County Board of Commissioners for its vision, and pledging its full support and cooperation in the development of a strategic action plan for economic development in Anson County.
Chairman Scarborough announced the formation of four committees – recruitment, retention and expansion, entrepreneurship, and fundraising – and asked each director to serve on at least one committee. The formation of the committees is a result of a special committee’s recommendation to establish priorities for the AEDC.
“I want to say how much the AEDC appreciates the many years of volunteer hours John Dunlap has given the organization as treasurer and board member,” said Scarborough. ”We are certainly happy he will continue as a board member. In the last several years, many of us have sought and appreciated John’s wise council.
“I also want to thank Dr. John McKay for his leadership on our refocus committee,” Scarborough said. McKay chaired the AEDC’s special committee that made recommendations to the board of directors.
Scarborough concluded, saying “I expect the citizens of Anson County will be hearing more from the AEDC in the coming days.”
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Anson's unemployment dips slightly in March
(April 27, 2007) –- Anson County’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in March -- from 7.3% in February to 7.0% -- but the county narrowly slipped into the top 10 counties with the highest rates.
In March, Anson County’s labor force numbered 11,287 (down 12 from February); the number of employed people was 10,498 (up 24 from February); and the number of unemployed people was 789 (down 36 from February).
The March breakdown for Anson’s neighboring counties:
- Montgomery – 12,284 labor force; 716 unemployed; a rate of 5.8% (down .8% from February).
- Richmond – 19,995 labor force; 1,458 unemployed; 7.3% rate (down .6% from February).
- Stanly – 30,672 labor force; 1,473 unemployed; 4.8% rate (down .2% from February).
- Union – 87,693 labor force; 3,271 unemployed; 3.7% rate (down .2% from February).
For March, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.5% – down .4% from February. North Carolina’s labor force numbered 4,520,971 in March with 201,717 people jobless.
Statewide, Scotland County remained No. 1 in the Top Ten with a 9.6% unemployment rate (down .9% from February), followed by Graham County at 9.0%, Hyde at 8.4%, Swain at 7.9%, Dare at 7.4%, Tyrrell at 7.7%, Mitchell and Richmond at 7.3%, Washington at 7.2%, Edgecombe at 7.1%, and Anson and Rutherford at 7.0%.
The civilian labor force estimates for all 100 counties are available on the Employment Security Commission's website at www.ncesc.com. For local information, call the ESC office at 704.694.6551 or visit www.ansonjoblink.com.
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